"But sanctify the Lord God
in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that
asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" 1 Peter 3:15
We shall have to acknowledge here that St. Peter addressed these words to all Christians, clergy and laity, male and female, young and old, of whatever state or condition they may have been. It follows that every Christian should know the ground of, and reason for, his faith and be able to maintain and defend it if necessary. But up to this time reading the Scripture has been forbidden the laity. For the devil hit upon a fine trick when he schemed to tear people away from Scripture. He thought: If I can keep the laity from reading the Scripture, I shall then bring the priests from the Bible into Aristotle so that, gossip what they will, the laity must hear whatever they preach to them. Otherwise, if the laity were to read Scripture, the priests would also have to study it in order not to be rebuked and refuted. But look now at what St. Peter here tells us all: We should give answer and show reason for our faith. When you are about to die, I shall not be with you; neither will the pope. If you then do not know the ground of your hope but merely say; I believe as the councils, the pope, and the fathers have believed, the devil will answer: Yes, but what if they were in error? Then he has won and will drag you down to hell. Therefore we must know what we believe, namely, what the holy fathers believe or say. For you must place no confidence whatever in any person, but in the bare Word of God.
Martin Luther
What Luther Says, p. 79
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