Jubilate, The Third Sunday after Easter
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson, Ph.D.
6421 W. Poinsettia Drive
Glendale, Arizona 85304-2419
Hymn (Matthias Loy) #297
The Invocation p. 5
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 6
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 7
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 9
The Epistle and Gradual 1 Peter 2:11-20
The Gospel John 16:16-23
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Apostles Creed p. 12
Sermon Hymn #294
The Sermon
Law and Anti-Law
The Prayers and Lord's Prayer p. 13
The Benediction p. 14
The Closing Hymn #376
KJV 1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. 18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. 19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
KJV John 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. 17 Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? 18 They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith. 19 Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? 20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. 23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER
Lord God, heavenly Father, who of Thy fatherly goodness dost suffer Thy children to come under Thy chastening rod here on earth, that we may be like unto Thine only-begotten Son in suffering and hereafter in glory: We beseech Thee, comfort us in temptations and afflictions by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may not fall into despair, but that we may continually trust in Thy Son's promise, that our trials will endure but a little while, and will then be followed by eternal joy; that we thus, in patient hope, may overcome all evil, and at last obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
KJV Galatians 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Law and Anti-Law
This lesson teaches us about the difference between the Law of God and the Gospel. This matter is so important that this text has been pivotal in understanding and in misunderstanding the relationship between Law and Gospel.
I do not want to retell the whole story of Agricola, but he was the leader of the anti-Nomian cause during the Reformation. He was brilliant and also deceitful, apologizing to Luther time after time, yet always plotting to advance the same false position. Anyone with Bente’s Historical Introductions (in the Triglotta) should read about Agricola.
What we believe about the Law and the Gospel will profoundly affect our thoughts and actions. Or, we can truly say that our thoughts and actions directly reflect what we believe about the Law and Gospel.
For instance, one Lutheran pastor, using this text, said the Law was obsolete. The Ten Commandments were no longer in effect, because everything was all Gospel. This was not just a slip of the tongue. He said it in sermons and defended his position. How did this affect his actions? He was known as a liar, just as Agricola was. Once an older member said about the pastor, “He knows he has a problem with lying.” That is why we say hypocrisy is how vice pays homage to virtue, but hypocrisy is still a sin. Acknowledging a problem is not the same as godly contrition.
Of course, all men are liars, as the Bible says. We all lie and deceive. However, the force of the Law makes us sorry for our sins and restrains us from saying whatever we want to get the things we want. It also moves us to receive forgiveness in faith and to show our contrition by making amends with people.
The problem with getting rid of the Law is that it does nothing for our sinful nature. The Law is good and useful, a tutor who instructs the child and leads him to Christ. We are all children in this regard. The Law must forever tutor us because we are too weak to obey God out of love all the time. Helmut Thielicke was a liberal Lutheran, but he made a good comparison. The Gospel is the Good Shepherd leading us forward. We follow the Shepherd because He knows us and we love His voice. He calls us by name. We are just as eager to be with Him as He is to lead us. However, when we stray, the shepherd dog, the Law, nips at our heels. Some people never stop complaining about the Law nipping their heels, but they never stop straying, either.
People who cannot understand the Law will say, for instance, “Well, all men are liars, so I am no more a liar than anyone else.” This line of reasoning has been used many times over. All men are sinners, so I may sin in whatever way I choose to sin. I know I am a sinner, so I know I am forgiven, so I can sin and know I will be forgiven. That is a mental indulgence and it is bound to produce a dead faith, that is, no faith at all.
Does an uneasy conscience say that everything is Gospel now? There is no Law? Luther pointed out that getting rid of Moses also gets rid of Christ. The Law teaches us the meaning of sin and our inability to obey God’s teaching. When people hear no word of the Law or believe the Law is obsolete, they have no hunger for the Gospel.
Reading a lot of Luther will change anyone’s view of this issue. All of us tend to think of sin in terms of what we do. Thus a sermon about sin will tend to make people think about the Prodigal Son, spending all of his inheritance on fast women and slow horses. The solution for many people consists of not doing something. In other words, they think in terms of the Law and even more Law. More than one lawless child has grown up into a parent who will keep his genetic code from expressing itself by imposing a multitude of laws upon his child.
All self-help groups and books can be condensed into this. You used to do this. That was bad. Now do this. That is good.
Luther’s insight about sin focuses upon our lack of trust in God. That is the foundation of sin. Once we begin to doubt God’s goodness or His ability to care for us, many grave sins spring up when we rely on our own devices. In those times of suffering and anguish, God does not address our greatest fears directly but in general. He does not say, “I will get you a job or a home.” But He does say, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” He assures us in so many hundreds of places that no sermon could contain more than a fraction of His promises.
God does show us His care and concern later. Then we realize how foolish we were to worry and doubt. Older people who have listened to the Gospel and experienced many difficulties are invariably more patient during difficult times, not knowing what the future holds, but knowing Who holds the future in His hands.
The Law is a tutor as long as we want to be tutored, that is, as long as we want to be children. Every time we look as something as a “half to,” we are children under a tutor. Whenever we say “want to” or “glad to,” we are motivated by the Gospel.
In my opinion, Protestant nations have prospered and become more free because individuals saw that they were sons and heirs and not slaves under the Law. Every culture dominated by the Law has remained backward.
We know that thankful hearts are moved to do all they can and more. That is because faith receives all the blessings of the Gospel. The Law is limited to contrition, but the Gospel changes us.
"And here you see that Baptism, both in its power and signification, comprehends also the third Sacrament, which has been called repentance, as it is really nothing else than Baptism. For what else is repentance but an earnest attack upon the old man [that his lusts be restrained] and entering upon a new life? Therefore, if you live in repentance, you walk in Baptism, which not only signifies such a new life, but also produces, begins, and exercises it. For therein are given grace, the Spirit, and power to suppress the old man, so that the new man may come forth and become strong."
The Large Catechism, Part Fourth, Of Baptism. #74-76. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 751. Tappert, p. 445. Heiser, p. 209.
Some people try to caution Lutherans, saying faith is not a work. Of course it is not. But how strange it seems to have Lutherans downplaying faith when the Scriptures, the Book of Concord, Luther and the Concordists emphasize faith so much. Faith means trust in God’s promises and blessings. That is not such a small thing. Many people do not trust in the Scriptures, not all of the Scriptures. Those who teach against baptism and communion are saying, “Forgiveness does not come to us through such earthly means. They are only symbols. We must do them because God commands.” (Still under the tutor, they have the Gospel and see it as Law.)
"Therefore it is pure wickedness and blasphemy of the devil that now our new spirits, to mock at Baptism, omit from it God's Word and institution, and look upon it in no other way than as water which is taken from the well, and then blather and say: How is a handful of water to help the soul? Aye, my friend, who does not know that water is water if tearing things asunder is what we are after? But how dare you thus interfere with God's order, and tear away the most precious treasure with which God has connected and enclosed it, and which He will not have separated? For the kernel in the water is God's Word or command and the name of God, which is a treasure greater and nobler than heaven and earth."
The Large Catechism, Part Fourth, Of Baptism. #15-16. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 735. Tappert, p. 438. Heiser, p. 205f.
I know that teaching against the sacraments will make someone less thankful for them. I grew up in the Disciples of Christ sect. They did not teach that the sacraments offered forgiveness as the Visible Word. (My list of quotations on this topic is about 30 pages long.) So it took me a long time to appreciate how much communion meant to Lutherans.
"For in Confession as in the Lord's Supper you have the additional advantage, that the Word is applied to your person alone. For in preaching it flies out into the whole congregation, and although it strikes you also, yet you are not so sure of it; but here it does not apply to anyone except you. Ought it not to fill your heart with joy to know a place where God is ready to speak to you personally? Yea, if we had a chance to hear an angel speak we would surely run to the ends of the earth."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983 II, p. 199.
The Gospel first creates faith in our hearts, whether we are baptized as infants or converted by the Word later in life. Either way, the Word converts us. The Holy Spirit calls us through the Gospel into the Kingdom of God. This faith created by the Gospel receives the Promises of God and all the benefits and blessings of those Promises.
The chief blessing is forgiveness and sin. From that follows eternal life. But there are many other blessings as well.
The combination of Law and Gospel serve God’s purpose. Believers do not have to wonder about right and wrong. The Ten Commandments establish the foundation of all human society, even if some sociologists discover that a tribe in South America steals and calls it virtue.
Whether people acknowledge God or not, all societies value marriage and the family. All of them condemn murder and theft. Dishonesty and greed may dominate our culture, but people still know it is wrong. We can look at the Ten Commandments two ways. One is to say, “This is what you shouldn’t do.”
The other way is, “God commands what is good.” As Helmut Thielicke wrote, we can follow the Good Shepherd’s Gospel Promises or get nipped in the heels by his German shepherd, the Law. The Law will bite, as we can see from the long list of celebrities who do whatever they want until they end up being found on a curb or in a dark alley.
Simply doing what God commands, year after year, brings great blessings to us. There are thousands of decisions made each year about right and wrong. Many parents refuse to do what is right with their children for fear of being unpopular. Children are angry when corrected. They are sad when punished. Being unwilling to face that job means that the price will be paid much later.
Or it may mean spending more time with the children and less time making money. It is possible to raise children without spending much money at all on luxuries. Time is the greatest luxury of all. While a flat screen gets cheaper every year, time is invaluable and grows even more precious.
Those who invest in the spiritual benefits of their children will reap the benefits for a lifetime. No one is ever going to say, “That was a great business meeting 20 years ago.” They will say, “I remember catching fish at the Notre Dame pond.” Yes, we took our Canadian cousin to the Notre Dame pond to show him how tame the fish were, from being fed by all the visitors. They literally swam up to our fingers and nibbled at them. They could easily be caught by hand.
If a cousin thought it was great fun and remembers it 30 years later, then how much more valuable is parent-child time? Children learn by actual teaching and by example. The Small Catechism says, “The head of the household will teach…” and yet fathers do not teach their own children. One mother was miffed when I said her husband should teach the daughters. I asked, “Is he the head of the household? I am just repeating what the Book of Concord says.”
Sadly, the 1960s left us with a legacy of doing what we feel like doing. I would like to garden that way. “I don’t feel like turning over the soil. I don’t feel like pulling weeds. I don’t feel like harvesting the food. The seed store owner upset me, so I won’t buy seed anymore. He said I was lazy.”
The objective Word changes our feelings so that they are influenced by faith in God rather than human reason and experience. We see so many clever people talking their way out of trouble and using lawyers to build castle walls around their latest crimes. But God is not fooled. The payment comes due in the long run.
Those who labor faithfully also receive their due in time, in life eternal if not here on earth. “Behold a host arrayed in white” was written for the ordinary saint, the people who had little protection from all the problems of life.
Behold a host, arrayed in white,
Like thousand snow clad mountains bright,
With palms they stand. Who is this band
Before the throne of light?
Lo, these are they of glorious fame
Who from the great affliction came
And in the flood of Jesus’ blood
Are cleansed from guilt and blame.
Now gathered in the holy place
Their voices they in worship raise,
Their anthems swell where God doth dwell,
Mid angels’ song of praise.
Despised and scorned, they sojourned here;
But now, how glorious they appear!
Those martyrs stand a priestly band,
God’s throne forever near.
So oft, in troubled days gone by,
In anguish they would weep and sigh.
At home above the God of Love
For aye their tears shall dry.
They now enjoy their Sabbath rest,
The paschal banquet of the blest;
The Lamb, their Lord, at festal board
Himself is Host and Guest.
Quotations about Original Sin
"For this reason the catholic church preaches that little children ought to be baptized, because of original sin, concerning which that most holy man well exclaimed: 'I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.'"
[Chrysostom, Homily on Adam and Eve]
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971, I, p. 250f. Cf. Weinrich article on term "Catholic" Genesis.
"And when, in two questions concerning the Virgin Mary, the limits set by the Scripture had already been exceeded, some began to contend in the schools that also the Virgin Mary had been conceived without original sin. Of this opinion Scotus later became the patron...But many, like Thomas, Bonaventura, Gregory of Ariminium, etc., at that time contradicted this opinion, because it was not only set forth without the Word of God and the testimonies of antiquity but it also conflicted with clear testimonies of Scripture."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971, I, p. 379.
"Good works are to be performed without any thought of merit, simply for the benefit of one's neighbor and for the honor of God; until the body, too, shall be released from sin, death and hell."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 151. Second Christmas Sermon Titus 3:4-8
"This is the situation with him: the greater his external restraint from evil, the greater his inward hatred of him who restrains. His character is in the scales; when one side goes up, the other goes down. While outward sin decreases, inward sin increases. We know from experience that those youths most strictly reared are, when given liberty, more wicked than young men less rigidly brought up. So impossible it is to improve human nature with commandments and punishments; something else is necessary."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 268. New Year's Day, Galatians 3:23-29
"Take heed, then, to embrace the message of these words presenting the love and kindness of God to all men. Daily exercise your faith therein, entertaining no doubt of God's love and kindness toward you, and you shall realize His blessings. Then you may with perfect confidence ask what you will, what your heart desires, and whatever is necessary for the good of yourself and your fellow-men. But if you do not so believe, it were far better you had never heard the message. For by unbelief you make false these precious, comforting, gracious words. You conduct yourself as if you regarded them untrue, which attitude is extreme dishonor to God; no more enormous sin could be committed."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 146. Early Christmas Morning Titus 3:4-8
"Here our adversaries inveigh against Luther also because he wrote that 'Original sin remains after Baptism.'They add that this article was condemned by Leo X. But His Imperial Majesty will find on this point a manifest slander. For our adversaries know in what sense Luther intended this remark, that original sin remains after Baptism. He always wrote thus, namely, that Baptism removes the guilt of original sin, although the material, as they call it, of the sin, i. e., concupiscence, remains. He also added in reference to the material that the Holy Ghost, given through Baptism, begins to mortify the concupiscence, and creates new movements [a new light, a new sense and spirit] in man."
Apology Augsburg Confession, II. #35. Original Sin. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 115. Tappert, p. 104f. Heiser, p. 31.
"Also they teach that since the fall of Adam, all men begotten in the natural way are born with sin, that is, without the fear of God, without trust in God, and with concupiscence; and that this disease, or vice of origin, is truly sin, even now condemning and bringing eternal death upon those not born again through Baptism and the Holy Ghost. They condemn the Pelagians and others who deny that original depravity is sin, and who, to obscure the glory of Christ's merit and benefits, argue that man can be justified before God by his own strength and reason."
Augsburg Confession, II. #1. Original Sin. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 43f. Tappert, p. 29. Heiser, p. 12.
"Also they teach that since the fall of Adam, all men begotten in the natural way are born with sin, that is, without the fear of God, without trust in God, and with concupiscence; and that this disease, or vice of origin, is truly sin, even now condemning and bringing eternal death upon those not born again through Baptism and the Holy Ghost."
Augsburg Confession, II. Original Sin. #1. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 43. Tappert, p. 29. Heiser, p. 12.
"In reference to original sin we therefore hold nothing differing either from Scripture or from the Church catholic, but cleanse from corruptions and restore to light most important declarations of Scripture and of the Fathers, that had been covered over by the sophistical controversies of modern theologians."
Apology Augsburg Confession, Article II. #32. Original Sin. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 113. Tappert, p. 104. Heiser, p. 30.
"From these facts it appears that the ancient definition says precisely the same thing that we say, denying fear and confidence toward God, to wit, not only the acts, but also the gifts and power to produce these acts [that we have no good heart toward God, which truly loves God, not only that we are unable to do or achieve any perfectly good work]."
Apology Augsburg Confession, II. #23. Original Sin. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 111. Tappert, p. 103. Heiser, p. 30.
"Even the history of the world shows how great is the power of the devil's kingdom. The world is full of blasphemies against God and of wicked opinions, and the devil keeps entangled in these bands those who are wise and righteous [many hypocrites who appear holy] in the sight of the world. In other persons grosser vices manifest themselves. But since Christ was given to us to remove both these sins and these punishments, and to destroy the kingdom of the devil, sin and death,it will not be possible to recognize the benefits of Christ unless we understand our evils. For this reason our preachers have diligently taught concerning these subjects, and have delivered nothing that is new, but have set forth Holy Scriptures and the judgments of the holy Fathers."
Apology Augsburg Confession, II. #50. Original Sin. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 119. Tappert, p. 106. Heiser, p. 32.
"And first, it is true that Christians should regard and recognize as sin not only the actual transgression of God's commandments; but also that the horrible, dreadful hereditary malady by which the entire nature is corrupted should above all things be regarded and recognized as sin indeed, yea, as the chief sin, which is a root and fountainhead of all actual sins. And by Dr. Luther it is called a nature-sin or person-sin, thereby to indicate that, even though a person would think, speak, or do nothing evil (which, however, is impossible in this life, since the fall of our first parents), his nature and person are nevertheless sinful, that is, thoroughly and utterly infected and corrupted before God by original sin, as by a spiritual leprosy; and on account of this corruption and because of the fall of the first man the nature or person is accused or condemned by God's Law, so that we are by nature the children of wrath, death, and damnation, unless we are delivered therefrom by the merit of Christ."
Formula of Concord, SD I. #5. Original Sin. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 861. Tappert, p. 509. Heiser, p. 236.
"Here we must confess, as Paul says in Romans 5:11, that sin originated [and entered the world] from one man Adam, by whose disobedience all men were made sinners, [and] subject to death and the devil. This is called original or capital sin."
Smalcald Articles, Third Part, I. #1. Sin. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 477. Tappert, p. 302. Heiser, p. 142. Romans 5:11
"This hereditary sin is so deep and [horrible] a corruption of nature that no reason can understand it, but it must be [learned and] believed from the revelation of Scriptures, Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12ff.; Exodus 33:3; Genesis 3:7ff." [Scholastic errors listed below]
Smalcald Articles, Third Part, I. #3. Of Sin. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 477. Tappert, p. 302. Heiser, p. 142. Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12ff; Exodus 33:3; Genesis 3:7ff.
"But the chief office or force of the Law is that it reveal original sin with all its fruits, and show man how very low his nature has fallen, and has become [fundamentally and] utterly corrupted; as the Law must tell man that he has no God nor regards [cares for] God, and worships other gods, a matter which before and without the Law he would not have believed. In this way he becomes terrified, is humbled, desponds, despairs, and anxiously desires aid, but sees no escape; he begins to be an enemy of [enraged at] God, and to murmur, etc. This is what Paul says, Romans 4:15: 'The Law worketh wrath.' And Romans 5:20: Sin is increased by the Law. [The Law entered that the offense might abound.']
Smalcald Articles, Third Part, II. #3. The Law. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 479. Tappert, p.303. Heiser, p. 142. Romans 5:20; Romans 4:15;
"In reference to original sin we therefore hold nothing differing either from Scripture or from the Church catholic, but cleanse from corruptions and re- store to light most important declarations of Scripture and of the Fathers, that had been covered over by the sophistical controversies of modern theologians."
Apology Augsburg Confession, II. #32. Original Sin. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 113. Tappert, p. 104. Heiser, p. 30.
"Why do so many people in our country fall in with the preachers of fanatical sects? Because these sects spread the glamour of great sanctity about themselves. Alas! man regards the works of God as trifling, but esteems the works of men highly. That is nothing but one of the sad results of man's fall into sin."
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 372.
"Article XI is, as it were, the crowning summary of the entire Formula of Concord: God's universal decree of salvation conquers the consequences of original sin (I) but does not abolish the relative freedom which constitutes man's humanity (II)."
Wilhelm Maurer, "Formula of Concord," The Lutheran Encyclopedia, 3 vols., ed., Julius Bodensieck, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1965, II, p. 874.
"In making his statement concerning the substantiality of original sin, the purpose of Flacius was to wipe out the last vestige of spiritual powers ascribed to natural man by Strigel, and to emphasize the doctrine of total corruption, which Strigel denied. His fatal blunder was that he did so in terms which were universally regarded as savoring of Manicheism."
F. Bente, Concordia Triglotta, Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 145.
Sola fide omitted. Justification perverted (Schmauk, p. 596) "Furthermore, the Leipzig Interim indirectly admits the Semi-Pelagian teaching regarding original sin and free will, while other doctrines which should have been confessed are passed by in silence. It recognizes the supremacy of the Pope, restores the power and jurisdiction of the bishops, acknowledges the authority of the council, approves of a number of ceremonies objectionable as such (e.g. the Corpus Christi Festival), and advocates the reintroduction of these and others in order to avoid persecution and to maintain outward peace with the Papists."
F. Bente, Concordia Triglotta, Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 99.
Adiaphoristic Controversy, 1548-1555. Flacius: "Nothing is an adiaphoron in case of confession and offense." Decided by FC, Article X. 2) Majoristic Controversy, 1551-1562. Good works necessary. Amsdorf: good works detrimental to salvation. Decided by FC, Article IV. 3) Synergistic Controversy, 1555-1560. Natural power cooperates in conversion. Decided by FC, Article II. 4) Flacian Controversy, 1560-1575. Original sin the very substance of fallen man. Decided by FC, Article I. 5) Osiandristic and Stancarian Controversy, 1549-1566. Christ our righteousness in divine nature only (O); in human nature only (S). Decided by FC, Article III.
F. Bente, Concordia Triglotta, Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 103.
"In the Formula of Concord, Article XI is closely related to most of the other articles, particularly to Article I, Of Original Sin, and Article II, Of Free Will and Conversion. Election is to conversion what the concave side of a lens is to the convex. Both correspond to each other in every particular. What God does for and in man when He converts, justifies, sanctifies, preserves, and finally glorifies him, He has in eternity resolved to do,--that is one way in which eternal election may be defined. Synergists and Calvinists, however, have always maintained that the Second Article is in a hopeless conflict with the Eleventh. But the truth is, the Second fully confirms and corroborates the Eleventh, and vice versa; for both maintain the sola gratia as well as the universalis gratia."
F. Bente, Concordia Triglotta, Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 203.
"Strigel's views concerning the freedom of man's will in spiritual matters may be summarized as follows: Man, having a will, is a free agent, hence always able to decide for or against. This ability is the 'mode of action' essential to man as long as he really is a man and in possession of a will. Even in matters pertaining to grace this freedom was not entirely lost in the Fall. It was impeded and weakened by original sin, but not annihilated."
F. Bente, Concordia Triglotta, Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 136.
Roman Catholic
"'Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.' [footnote #506: Lumen Gentium, 59; cf. Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus (1950): DS 3903; cf. Rev. 19:16] The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians: 'In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death.' [footnote #507, Byzantine Liturgy, Troparion, Feast of the Dormition, Aug 15]"
Liberia Editrice Vaticana, Catechism of the Catholic Church, St. Paul Books and Media, 1994, p. 252. Revelation 19:16.
[Pope Pius IX] – "The Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free of all stain of original sin." [Ineffabilis Deus, Acta Pii IX, part L, vol. 1, p. 615]
Kilian Healy, O.Carm., The Assumption of Mary, Wilmington, Delaware: Michael Glazier, 1982, p. 73. Pope Pius IX
"Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, 'full of grace' through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: 'The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.' [footnote #135: Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, 1954: DS 2803.]" (#491)
Liberia Editrice Vaticana, Catechism of the Catholic Church, St. Paul Books and Media, 1994, p. 124. Pope Pius IX
"Finally, preserved free from all guilt of original sin, [Note: "Cf. Pius IX, bull 'Ineffabilis,' Dec. 8, 1854: 'Acta Pii IX,' 1, I, p. 616; Denzinger 1641 (2803)."] the Immaculate Virgin was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory upon the completion of her earthly sojourn." [Note: "Cf. Pius XII, apostolic constitution 'Munifentissimus,' Nov. 1, 1950..."]
Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, VIII, 59, The Documents of Vatican II, Walter M. Abbott, S.J., New York: Herder and Herder, 1966, p. 90.
[Bull, Solicitudo omnium, December 8, 1661] "...preserved free from the stain of original sin."]
Paul F. Palmer, S.J., Mary in the Documents of the Church, Gerald G. Walsh, S.J., Westminster, Maryland: The Newman Press 1952, p. 78. Pope Alexander VII
"We see the servant return the sixth time to be again sent by Elias to 'look out over the sea.' This seventh time he hastens back for, rising out of the sea at the foot of the Mount, he has seen a small cloud in the shape of a human foot! In the near tomorrows, sainted Doctors of the true Church will explain to the world how this little cloud, rising pure out of its bitter sea and leaving all impurities behind, is a figure of an Immaculate Virgin who will rise pure out of the sea of humankind, free of its universal impurity of original sin." (Kings III, ch. 18)
John Mathias Haffert, Mary in Her Scapular Promise, Sea Isle City, NJ: The Scapular Press, 1942, p. 4. Aug., Serm, xxvii, in Natali Domini, xix,
"As they [the theologians] reflected on this problem [whether Mary sinned], more and more Catholic thinkers came to the conclusion that Mary must have been excused from the universality of original sin. They are some indications of this in the Bible, although the Bible nowhere says explicitly that Mary was immaculately conceived."
Kenneth Baker, S.J., Fundamentals of Catholicism, 3 vols., San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1982, II, p. 323.
"But most students are prepared to admit that the Angelic Doctor simply denied Mary's freedom from original sin."
A. Carr & G. Williams, "Mary's Immaculate Conception," Mariology, 3 vols., Juniper B. Carol, O.F.M., Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1961, I, p. 366.
"However, this same holy synod declares that it is not its intention to include in this decree, where original sin is treated, the blessed and immaculate Virgin Mary, the mother of God, but that the constitution of Pope Sixtus IV, of happy memory, should be observed under the penalties contained in these constitutions, which it renews." [Appendix of the Decree of the Fifth Session of the Council of Trent]
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971, I, p. 377. Pope Sixtus IV
"Supernaturally, however, there was accomplished in the womb of St. Anne the singular mystery known as the Immaculate Conception. From the first instant of Mary's existence in the womb of her mother, as a human creature, a daughter of Adam, she entered into life all pure, entirely free from the stain that mars every man coming into this world. And just as she did not know original sin at conception, neither would she every experience actual sin, and her soul would always remain immaculate. Neither would she suffer the humiliating consequences of original sin, namely, ignorance and concupiscence."
Peter A. Resch, S.M., S.T.D., A Life of Mary, Co-Redemptrix, Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1954, p. 31.
"It is interesting, however, that, as Millard Meiss has emphasized, the Dominicans were particularly instrumental in fostering the cult of the nursing Virgin. They were the only order in the Church that continually and vehemently opposed the growing belief in the Immaculate Conception of Mary. And if Mary was free from all stain of original sin, then lactation might not be her inheritance."
Marina Warner, Alone of All Her Sex, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976, p. 204.
