10 I'nfiic,'

a sense of the writer's s tyle and to make H rlnu t h a t theology docsnot consist simply of unsupported assertions but involves arguments.I have sought to keep my own introductions and notes to a mini-mum, to make room for as much of the primary texts as possible.Occasionally I have substituted U.S. spellings for British. Teachersare sometimes tempted to leave out things that have become, forthem, overly familiar—but even the most familiar texts are often newto a student. Therefore, while I hope that even those expert in thefield will find a few unfamiliar passages here, I have tried not to leaveout the obvious ones.

No anthology is ever really satisfactory. If I were more learned ormore imaginative, I am sure this one would be better. We keeplearning more about the past, and we keep asking new questions ofit as new issues arise in the present. So history keeps going out ofdate. In compiling this anthology, I was particularly conscious thatnew insights in feminist scholarship raise questions about both theselection and the translation of texts. I wish I had been able to takethem more into account.

I am grateful to James Heaney, a committed and courageouseditor who encouraged and supported my earlier book, and toCynthia Thompson, my helpful editor for these volumes. The LillyLibrary of Wabash College and the Regenstein Library of the Uni-versity of Chicago and their staffs helped me at many points. Myemeritus colleague John Charles answered questions over coffeeabout everything from medieval history to Greek grammar. I am alsograteful to James McCord and the Center of Theological Inquiry forproviding me with a wonderful "home away from home" for a yearduring which the final stages of this project were completed. Mycolleagues, students, and friends at Wabash continue to be a commu-nity that nurtures me in many ways. Wabash faculty developmentfunds and money from the Eric Dean Fund helped support myresearch. I am above all grateful to my two research assistants: forover a year, David Schulz did everything from typing to trackingdown publishers, and David Kirtley provided invaluable assistancein the project's final stages. Without them, I am not sure either I orthe book would have made it.

W.C.P.

CHAPTER 1

Lutherand the Radical Reformation

The history of Christian theology forms a connected story; it allows forno clean divisions. Recent scholarship concerning the Reformation, forinstance, has often emphasized its roots in the late Middle Ages. Still, ifone has to divide Christian theology's history in half, the Reformation ofthe sixteenth century does mark a decisive watershed. The same storycontinues, but here a dramatically new chapter begins.

That chapter opened modestly enough. In 1517 a German monk namedMartin Luther wrote ninety-five theses criticizing abuses in the selling ofindulgences. According to late-medieval theology, anyone who hadsinned, even once forgiven, owed a penance. But those who repented andcontributed money to the church could receive an indulgence that let themoff the penance. In the hands of unscrupulous popular preachers, all thiscould sound like buying permission to sin. As Luther thought aboutindulgences, however, he realized that his real objection was not just tosuch popular abuses but to a whole theology that seemed to suppose onecould earn or deserve God's grace. Luther read in Paul's letter to theRomans that the just shall live by faith, and he concluded that those whohave faith are justified by God's unmerited grace alone, without regard fortheir good works.

At first, Luther thought he was only clarifying the true teaching of thechurch. But in 1519 the Catholic theologian Johannes Eck challengedLuther to a public debate and convinced him that he was in disagreementwith official statements of popes and councils. Called in 1521 before theassembled nobility of Germany to recant, Luther insisted, "Unless I amconvinced by the testimony of Scripture or by clear reason, for I do nottrust either in Pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that theyhave often erred and contradicted themselves... I cannot and will notretract anything."

The Protestant Reformation began with that challenge to traditionalauthority. The newly invented printing press spread Luther's message of

11

12 l.ntln'r and the Radical Reformation

"justification by faith" and "the author i ty of Scripture alone" throughGermany and the rest of Hurope. Others, such as Ulrich Zwingli in theSwiss city of Zurich, were arriving independently at conclusions like thoseof Luther and were beginning "reformations" of their own. The "reform-ers" soon began to disagree among themselves. Luther and Zwinglidebated a number of issues, especially the nature of the Lord's Supper, andfollowers of Zwingli and other Swiss Reformers grew into the family of"Reformed" Protestants, to be distinguished from "Lutherans."

As the Reformation spread, it inevitably divided the Christian commu-nity, but both Luther and Zwingli tried to keep all Christians within agiven territory together in one church, even at the cost of making somecompromises. Others, however, felt that true reform meant creating apurified church of the truly committed, even if that meant founding smallseparated communities. They often took willingness to be rebaptized as anadult as the necessary sign of membership in such communities and weretherefore called Anabaptists ("rebaptizers").

Many Anabaptists suffered persecution. Some, like the leaders of thecity of Minister in the 1530s, tried to impose their own beliefs by force.A young preacher named Thomas Miintzer did not advocate rebaptizingbut is often classified with the Anabaptists as part of the "Radical Refor-mation." A widespread revolt among German peasants in 1525 appealedto Luther for support, but he refused to challenge secular authority as hehad that of the church. Miintzer, however, denounced everything heconsidered a form of oppressive authority and joined the peasants, onlyto be killed by their opponents as he fled after the defeat of the peasantarmy.

Associations with violence were giving the "Radical Reformation" abad name. In the later 1500s a Dutchman named Menno Simons andothers regrouped the surviving Anabaptists into withdrawn, disciplined,pacifist communities, which survive as the Amish and Mennonites. WhileMenno Simons was uniting divided Anabaptists, Lutheran theologianswere dividing over such issues as the role of human freedom in salvation,divisions settled only with the Formula of Concord in 1577. ReformingChristian theology was proving to be a complicated and controversial task.

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

From The Freedom of a Christian

In 1520 Pope Leo X required Luther to retract his views and submitto papal authority. Luther wrote this treatise within weeks of havingreceived the papal demand. About the time he finished it, the emperorsummoned him to the imperial Diet that would meet at Worms thefollowing year. Luther burned the papal demand and at the Diet

Martin Luther: The Freedom of a Christian 13

refused to recant his position. The Reformation had begun, and thistreatise, as much as any other, summarized its basic principles—justification by faith, the authority of scripture, and the priesthood ofall believers.

To make the way smoother for the unlearned—for only them do Iserve—I shall set down the following two propositions concerningthe freedom and the bondage of th£_spirit:

A Christian is a perfectlyffrgglgrd J)f all, subject to none.A Christian is a perfectly (^utn^fservanTjof all, subject to all.These two theses seem to contradict each other. If, however, they

should be found to fit together they would serve our purpose beauti-fully. Both are Paul's own statements, who says in 1 Cor. 9 [:19],"For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave toall," and in Rom. 13 [:8], "Owe no one anything, except to love oneanother." Love by its very nature is ready to serve and be subject tohim who is loved. So Christ, although he was Lord of all, was "bornof woman, born under the law" [Gal. 4:4] and therefore was at thesame time a free man and a servant, "in the form of God" and "ofa servant" [Phil. 2:6-7].

Let us start, however, with something more remote from oursubject, but more obvious. Man has a twofold nature, a spiritual anda bodily one. According to the spiritual nature, which men refer toas the soul, he is called a spiritual, inner, or new man. According tothe bodily nature, which men refer to as flesh, he is called a carnal,outward, or old man, of whom the Apostle writes in 2 Cor. 4 [:16],"Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is beingrenewed every day." Because of this diversity of nature the Scrip-tures assert contradictory things concerning the same man, sincethese two men in the same man contradict each other, "for thedesires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spiritare against the flesh," according to Gal. 5 [:17].

First, let us consider the inner man to see how a righteous, free,and pious Christian, that is, a spiritual, new, and inner man, becomeswhat he is. It is evident that no external thing has any influence inproducing Christian righteousness or freedom, or in producing un-righteousness or servitude. . . .

One thing, and only one thing, is necessary for Christian life,righteousness, and freedom. That one thing is the most holy Wordof God, the gospel of Christ, as Christ says, John 11 [:25], "I am theresurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yetshall he live"; and John 8 [:36], "So if the Son makes you free, you

14 Luther and the Radical Reformation

will be free indeed"; and Matt. 4 [:4], "Man shall not live by breadalone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Letus then consider it certain and firmly established that the soul cando without anything except the Word of God and that where theWord of God is missing there is no help at all for the soul. If it hasthe Word of God it is rich and lacks nothing, since it is the Wordof life, truth, light, peace, righteousness, salvation, joy, liberty, wis-dom, power, grace, glory, and of every incalculable blessing. This iswhy the prophet in the entire Psalm [119] and in many other placesyearns and sighs for the Word of God and uses so many names todescribe it. ...

You may ask, "What then is the Word of God, and how shall itbe used, since there are so many words of God?" I answer: TheApostle explains this in Romans 1. The Word is the gospel of Godconcerning his Son, who was made flesh, suffered, rose from thedead, and was glorified through the Spirit who sanctifies. To preachChrist means to feed the soul, make it righteous, set it free, and saveit, provided it believes the preaching. Faith alone is the saving andefficacious use of the Word of God, according to Rom. 10 [:9]: "Ifyou confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heartthat God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Furthermore,"Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may bejustified" [Rom. 10:4]. Again, in Rom. 1 [:17], "He who throughfaith is righteous shall live." The Word of God cannot be receivedand cherished by any works whatever but only by faith. Thereforeit is clear that, as the soul needs only the Word of God for its lifeand righteousness, so it is justified by faith alone and not any works;for if it could be justified by anything else, it would not need theWord, and consequently it would iiotjieed faith.

This faith cajuigt exist in connection with works^-that is to say,if you at the same time claim to be justified by works, whatever theircharacter—for that would be the same as "limping with two differentopinions" [1 Kings 18:21], as worshiping Baal and kissing one's ownhand [Job 31:27-28], which, as Job says, is a very great iniquity.Therefore the moment you begin to have faith you learn that allthings in you are altogether blameworthy, sinful, and damnable, asthe Apostle says in Rom. 3 [:23], "Since all have sinned and fall shortof the glory of God," and, "None is righteous, no, not one; . . . allhave turned aside, together they have gone wrong" (Rom. 3:10-12).When you have learned this you will know that you need Christ, whosuffered and rose again for you so that, if you believe in him, you may

Martin Luther: The Freedom of a Christian D

through this faith become a new man in so far as your sins areforgiven and you are justified by the merits of another, namely, ofChrist alone.

Since, therefore, this faith can rule only in the inner man, as Rom.10 [:10] says, "For man believes with his heart and so is justified,"and since faith alone justifies, it is clear that the inner man cannotbe justified, freed, or saved by any outer work or action at all, andthat these works, whatever their character, have nothing to do withthis inner man. . . .

When, however, God sees that we consider him truthful and bythe faith of our heart pay him the great honor which is due him, hedoes us that great honor of considering us truthful and righteous forthe sake of our faith. Faith works truth and righteousness by givingGod what belongs to him. Therefore God in turn glorifies our righ-teousness. It is true and just that God is truthful and just, and toconsider and confess him to be so is the same as being truthful andjust. Accordingly he says in 1 Sam. 2 [:30], "Those who honor meI will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed."So Paul says in Rom. 4 [:3] that Abraham's faith "was reckoned tohim as righteousness" because by it he gave glory most perfectly toGod, and that for the same reason our faith shall be reckoned to usas righteousness if we believe.

The third incomparable benefit of faith* is that it unitesthe soulwithJIIbjdsLas a bride is united_with her bridegroom. By this mystery,as the Apostle teaches, Christ and the soul become one flesh [Eph.5:31-32]. And if they are one flesh and there is between them a truemarriage—indeed the most perfect of all marriages, since humanmarriages are but poor examples of this one true marriage—it fol-lows that everything they have they hold in common, the good aswell as the evil. Accordingly the believing soul can boast of and gloryin whatever Christ has as though it were its own, and whatever thesoul has Christ claims as his own. Let us compare these and we shallsee inestimable benefits. Christ is full of grace, life, and salvation. Thesoul is full of sins, death, and damnation. Now let faith come betweenthem and sins, death, and damnation will be Christ's, while grace,life, and salvation will be the soul's; for if Christ is a bridegroom, hemust take upon himself the things which are his bride's and bestow

*The first was that faith "makes the law and works unnecessary for any man's righteousnessand salvation"; the second was that "it honors him whom it trusts [God] with the mostreverent and high regard."

lf> I ntlit'i iiinl llii' Km/icul Reformation

upon her the things (hat arc his. If he gives her his body and veryself, how shall he not give her all t h u l is his? And if he lakes the bodyof the bride, how shall he not take all (hat is hers?

Here we have a most pleasing vision not only of communion butof a blessed struggle and victory and salvation and redemption.Christ is God and man in one person. He has neither sinned nor died,and is not condemned, and he cannot sin, die, or be condemned; hisrighteousness, life, and salvation are unconquerable, eternal, omnip-otent. By the wedding ring of faith he shares in the sins, death, andpains of hell which are his bride's. As a matter of fact, he makes themhis own acts as if they were his own and as if he himself had sinned;he suffered, died, and descended into hell that he might overcomethem all. . . .

From this you once more see that much is ascribed to faith,namely, that it alone can fulfill the law and justify without works.You see that the First Commandment, which says, "You shall wor-ship one God," is fulfilled by faith alone. Though you were nothingbut good works from the soles of your feet to the crown of your head,you would still not be righteous or worship God or fulfill the FirstCommandment, since God cannot be worshiped unless you ascribeto him the glory of truthfulness and all goodness which is due him.This cannot be done by works but only by the faith of the heart. Notby the doing of works but by believing do we glorify God andacknowledge that he is truthful. Therefore faith alone is the righ-teousness of a Christian and the fulfilling of all commandments, forhe who fulfills the First Commandment has no difficulty in fulfillingall the rest.

But works, being inanimate things, cannot glorify God, althoughthey can, if faith is present, be done to the glory of God. . . .

That we may examine more profoundly that grace which our innerman has in Christ, we must realize that in the Old Testament Godconsecrated to himself all first-born males. The birthright was highlyprized for it involved a twofold honor, that of priesthood and thatof kingship. The first-born brother was priest and lord over all theothers and a type of Christ. . . .

Injustice is done those words "priest," "cleric," "spiritual," "ec-clesiastic," when they are transferred from all Christians to those fewwho are now by a mischievous usage called "ecclesiastics." HolyScripture makes no distinction between them, although it gives thename "ministers," "servants," "stewards" to those who are nowDroudly called popes, bishops, and lords and who should accordingo the ministry of the Word serve others and teach them the faith

Martin Luther: The 1'reedom of a Christian 17

of Christ and the freedom of believers. Although we are all equallypriests, we cannot all publicly minister and teach. We ought not doso even if we could. Paul writes accordingly in 1 Cor. 4 [:!]: "Thisis how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of

the mysteries of God."That stewardship, however, has now been developed into so great

a display of power and so terrible a tyranny that no heathen empireor other earthly power can be compared with it, just^astflajrmenwere not also Christians. Thj^u^h_th^^erveision theUsniowledgPofChristian grace, faith, liberty, and of Christ himself has altogejhsrperished, and its place has been taken by an unbearable bondage of

""human works and laws until we have become, as the Lamentationsof Jeremiah [1] say, servants of the vilest men on earth who abuseour misfortune to serve only their base and shameless will. . . .

Rather ought Christ to be preached to the end that faith in himmay be established that he may not only be Christ, but be Christ foryou and me, and that what is said of him and is denoted in his namemay be effectual in us. SucnC^arSTis^produced and preserved in us

.Christ came, what he brought and bestowed, what~ — • • • ' - - - -.i--^ ^t,,;^*;,,^hy_prear.ng \ v i y _ r ,

benefit it is to us to accept Turn. This is done when that Christian^jSTtL^ii^^L^sto^ we are to"d m whatway we Christians are_al^k]ngs_and priests and.th^refore_lords_of alland may firmly believe that whatever we have done is pleasing andacceptable in the sight of God, as I have already said. . . .

Now let us turn to the second part, the outer man. . . .Although, as I have said, a man is abundantly and sufficiently

justified by faith inwardly, in his spirit, and so has all that he needs,except insofar as this faith and these riches must grow from day today even to the future life; yet he remains in this mortal life on earth,

jfpjhifijnustcontrol his own body^ and have dealings with men.enjoy leisuFefKere He must

-ti£r£UfiSjyj?I^12eJ.1IJfi'I1C1C a llltt" VCU1.1V,., ~..j~j ,

indeed take care t^disciolme his bod,y by fastings, watchings, labors,and othe^-reasonable discipline and to suJaja^itJaiheJSpJri^jio thatit will obey and conform to the inner man and faith and not revoltagainst faith and hinder the inner man, as it is the nature of the bodyto do if it is not held in check. The inner man, who by faith is createdin the image of God, is both joyful and happy because of Christ inwhom so many benefits are conferred upon him; and therefore it ishis one occupation to serve God joyfully and without thought ofgain, in love that is not constrained.

While he is doing this, behold, he meets a contrary will in his ownflesh which strives to serve the world and seeks its own advantage.

18 Luther and the Radical Reformation

This the spirit of faith cannot tolerate, but with joyful zeal it attemptsto put the body under control and hold it in check. . . .

In doing these works, however, we must not think that a man isjustified before God by them, for faith, which alone is righteousnessbefore God, cannot endure that erroneous opinion. . . .

We should think of the works of a Christian who is justified andsaved by faith because of the pure and free mercy of God, just as wewould think of the works which Adam and Eve did in Paradise, andall their children would have done if they had not sinned. We readin Gen. 2 [:15] that "The Lord God took the man and put him inthe garden of Eden to till it and keep it." Now Adam was createdrighteous and upright and without sin by God so that he had no needof being justified and made upright through his tilling and keepingthe garden; but, that he might not be idle, the Lord gave him a taskto do, to cultivate and protect the garden. This task would truly havebeen thejreest^of works, done oiily-ia-Dlease God and not to obtainrighteousness, which Adam already had in full measure and whichwould have been the birthright of us all.^^^T^^^^se&SSmiMsMSSi^- Through his faith he has been

restored to Paradise and created anew, has no need of works that hemay become or be righteous; but that he may not be idle and mayprovide for and keep his body, he must do such works freely onlyto please God. Since, however, we are not wholly recreated, and ourfaith and love are not yet perfect, these are to be increased, not byexternal works, however, but of themselves. • • •

/^We do not, JSefefore^r^ectRood works:/1 on the contrary, wecherish and teach them as much as possible. We do not condemnthem for their own sake but on account oT this godless addition tothem and the perverse idea that righteousness is to be sought throughthem; for that makes them appear good outwardly, when in truththey are not good. They deceive men and lead them to deceive oneanother like ravening wolves in sheep's clothing [Matt. 7:15]. . . .

Let this suffice concerning works in general and at the same timeconcerning the works which a Christian does for himself. Lastly,we shall also speak of the things which he does toward his neigh-bor. A man does not live for himself alone in this mortal body towork for it alone, bulCBeJiyies also" for all men~on~eartn7)rather, heJiy^§. PJily f"F ithf rg and not for himself. To this end he brings hisbody into subjection that he may the more sincerely and freely

Behold, from faith thus flow forth love and joy in the Lord, andfrom love a joyful, willing, and free mind that serves one's neighbor

Ulrich Zwingli: An Account of the Faith of /wingli 19

willingly and takes no account of gratitude or ingratitude, of praiseor blame, of gain or loss. For a man does not serve that he may putmen under obligations. He does not distinguish between friends andenemies or anticipate their thankfulness or unthankfulness, but hemost freely and most willingly spends himself and all that he has,whether he wastes all on the thankless or whether he gains a reward.As his Father does, distributing all things to all men richly andfreely, making "his sun rise on the evil and on the good" [Matt. 5:45],so also the son does all things and suffers all things with that freelybestowing joy which is his delight when through Christ he sees it inGod, the dispenser of such great benefits. . . .

We conclude, therefore, that a Christian lives not in himself, butin Christ and in his neighbor. Otherwise he is not a Christian. Helives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love. By faithhe is caught up beyond himself into God. By love he descendsbeneath himself into his neighbor. Yet he always remains in God andin his love, as Christ says in John 1 [:51], "Truly, truly, I say to you,you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending anddescending upon the Son of man."

Translated by W. A. Lambert. From "The Freedom of a Christian," in MartinLuther, Three Treatises, Second Revised Edition, pages 277-281, 285-288, 291-296,300-301, 304, 309. Copyright © 1970 by Fortress Press. Used by permission of thepublisher.

Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)

From An Account of the Faith of Zwingli

Zwingli began his career as a priest, a humanist scholar, and a Swisspatriot. He came to Reformation, he always insisted, quite indepen-dently of Luther, and, beginning in 1519, led the Reformation of theSwiss city of Zurich. The authority of scripture and the need to purifyChristian worship played particularly important roles in his version ofthe Reformation. In some ways Zwingli very much inherited the atti-tudes of Renaissance humanism—in his emphasis on careful study ofthe biblical text and, as this selection mentions, his reluctance to treatthe inheritance of original sin as really a sin. He fought a series ofdebates with Luther that centered on interpretations of the Lord'sSupper and with the early Anabaptists over the question of infantbaptism. Zwingli wrote this summary of his faith for presentation tothe Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530.