Heresies of the Ancient Church Revived

 

I don't know of anything in our Lord Jesus Christ that the devil has not assailed. Accordingly he has to start again from the beginning and rake up the old errors and heresies. Sabellius was the first; he said that Christ is God and that there is only one person in the Godhead. This is the earliest and most subtle heresy, that there is only one person, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then followed the Patripassians, who did not disagree particularly with the Sabellians. Afterward the Arians distinguished among the persons but declared that the Son was not God from eternity but was only called God, just as princes are called gods. The Manicheans followed by attacking the humanity of Christ and saying that he was a phantom who did not have a real body. Later the Photinians appeared and said that Christ indeed had a real body but lacked a soul. Thus the devil assailed Christ from stem to stern. There was nothing left to attack, and so the devil has to start all over again from the beginning.


Martin Luther
Table Talk (Between April 20 and May 16,  1532)
Luther Works Vol. 54, pp. 36-36

Theology Is Not Quickly Learned

 

"Clever men see that the church is despised and that others are exalted. They judge according to reason, without the Word of God, and thus reach this conclusion. Hence it comes to pass that they despise all religion and say that the article concerning the resurrection was only invented to terrify the common people. Peasants, however, seldom go so far as to despise God and religion, for they hardly think about such things. But clever people are interested in them, reflect upon them, and weigh them according to reason. Such a man is Erasmus. Other very clever men support this epicurean. But we know that the Holy Scriptures are confirmed, as not other teaching can be, by such miracles as the raising of the dead, the expulsion of demons, etc. It is for this reason that our Lord God warns us so often to abide by the Holy Scriptures."

"I didn't learn my theology all at once. I had to ponder over it ever more deeply, and my spiritual trials were of help to me in this, for one does not learn anything without practice. This is what the spiritualists and sects lack. They don't have the right adversary, the devil. He would teach them well. None of the arts can be learned without practice. What kind of physician would that be who stayed in school all the time? When he finally puts his medicine to use and deals more and more with nature, he will come to see that he hasn't as yet mastered the art. Why shouldn't this be so in the case of the Holy Scriptures, too, where God has provided a different adversary? It is therefore the greatest gift [of God] to have a text and to be able to say, 'This is right. I know it.' People think that they can know everything by simply listening to a sermon. Zwingli also made the mistake of thinking that he knew everything, that theology is an easy art. But I know that I have yet to comprehend the Lord's Prayer. No one can be learned practice. The peasant put it well: Armor is fine for a man who knows how to use it. To be sure, The Holy Scriptures are sufficient in themselves, but God grant that I find the right text. For when Satan disputes with me whether God is gracious to me, I dare not quote the passage, 'He who loves God will inherit the kingdom of God,' because Satan will at once object, 'But you have not loved God!' Nor can I oppose this on the ground that I am a diligent reader [of the Scriptures] and a preacher. The shoe doesn't fit. I should say, rather, that Jesus Christ died for me and shout cite the article [of the Creed] concerning forgiveness of sin. That will do it!"

Martin Luther

Table Talk, Fall, 1532

Luther's Works Vol. 54, pp. 50-51

Counsel for a Man Overtaken by Melancholy

 

I asked him [Martin Luther] about a certain man who, when he had a stomachache for several days and as a consequence had pain in his head and was confused in his thoughts, got the notion and was afraid that he was falling into a state of melancholy. He disclosed his anxiety to me and asked that I notify the doctor, whereupon he [Martin Luther] responded with these words: "When the devil can bring this about, it means that imagination has produced the effect. On this account his thoughts ought to be changed. He ought to think about Christ. You should say to him, 'Christ lives. You have been baptized. God is not a God of sadness, death, etc., but the devil is. Christ is a God of joy, and so the Scriptures often say that we should rejoice, be glad, etc. This is Christ. Because you have a gracious God, he won't take you by the throat.'"

"A Christian should and must be a cheerful person. If he isn't, the devil is tempting him. I have sometimes been grievously tempted while bathing in my garden, and then I have sung the hymn, 'Let us now praise Christ.' Otherwise I would have been lost then and there. Accordingly, when you notice that you have some such thoughts, say, 'This isn't Christ.' To be sure, he can hear the name of Christ, but it's a lie because Christ says, 'Let not your heart be troubled [John 14:27]. Trust in me,' etc. This is a command of God: Rejoice! I now preach this, and I also write it, but I haven't as yet learned it. But it happens that we learn as we're tempted. If we were always glad, the devil would befoul us. Christ knows that our hearts are troubled, and it is for this reason that He says and commands, 'Let not your hearts be troubled.'"

"Thus we are like the holy fathers in our faith. The weaker we are than the fathers, the greater the victory Christ obtains for us. We are very inexperienced, very weak, and very proud over against the devil; he has a great advantage over us, for our wisdom, power, and holiness are not so great as our fathers' were. But our Lord God wants to put an end to the devil's extreme arrogance. Paul had to say, 'I alone have resisted all the derision of Satan.'"

Table Talk, Spring, 1533

Luther's Works Vol. 54, pp. 95-96

Consolation for a Depressed Friend

Thereupon Dr. Weller arrived very troubled and depressed. Luther comforted him and told him to give his heart to the Lord and seek fellowship with men. Luther asked whether he was angry with God or with Luther or with himself.

Weller replied, "I confess that I am murmuring against God." 

To this Luther said, "God will give up nothing. I, too, often honor God in this way. When I should procure good incense for Him I bring Him the stinking pitch and fetid dung of murmuring and impatience. If we didn't have the article concerning the forgiveness of sins (which God has promised surely to keep) we'd be in a bad way."

Weller said, "The devil is a master at taking hold of us where it hurts most."

Luther: "Yes, he doesn't learn this from us. He is quite agile. If he hasn't exempted the patriarchs, the prophets, and the Prince of prophets, Christ, he will not spare us. He can make the oddest syllogisms: 'You have sinned. God is angry with sinners. Therefore despair!' Accordingly we must proceed from the law to the gospel and grasp the article concerning the forgiveness of sins. You are not the only one, dear brother, who suffers from such anguish. Peter admonishes us not to be surprised when the same experience of suffering is required of the brotherhood (Cf. 1 Pet. 5:9). Moses, David, and Isaiah suffered much and often. What kind of trials do you suppose David was going through when he composed the psalm, 'O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy anger' [Ps. 6:1]? He would rather have died by the sword than to have experienced these horrible feelings against God and of God against him. I believe that confessors have to endure more than martyrs, for day after day they see idolatries, offenses, and sins, the prosperity and security of the godless, and on the other hand the anxieties of the godly who are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." [Cf. Ps. 44:22)

Continuation of Consolation

Thereupon he entreated Weller to cultivate the company of men when he is afflicted with such melancholy and not live alone. "'Woe to him who is alone,' the preacher says [Eccles. 4:10]. When I'm morose I flee above all from solitude. Christ was Himself tempted by Satan when our Lord was alone in the wilderness [Cf. Matt. 4:1-11]. On the other hand, the wilderness of John the Baptist was inhabited like Düben, Jessen, and other places; he was among men. In short, spiritual anguish exceeds bodily suffering by far. The anguish of Judas- "you have betrayed innocent blood" - became for him the most awful death."

"This is especially so when the devil turns the gospel into law. The teachings of the law and gospel are altogether necessary, but they must be distinguished even when they are conjoined, otherwise men will despair or become presumptuous. Consequently Moses describes these teachings well when he speaks of an upper and lower millstone [Cf. Deut. 24:6]. The upper millstone rumbles and pounds. This is the law. It's very well set up by God so that it grinds. On the other hand, the lower millstone is quiet, and this is the gospel. Our Lord God has suspended the upper millstone in such a way that the grain is crushed and ground only on the lower stone."

"This is my only and my best advice: Don't remain alone when you are assailed! Flee solitude! Do as that monk did who, when he felt tempted in his cell, said, 'I won't stay here; I'll run out of the cell to my brethren.' So it's reported of Paul in the book of Acts [27:33; 28:15] that he suffered for fourteen days from severe hunger and from shipwreck and afterward was received by his brethren and took courage. This is what I do too. I'd rather go to my swineherd Joh, or even to the pigs themselves, than remain alone."

Martin Luther

Table Talk, March 29, 1538

Luther's Works Vol, 54, pp. 275-277

The Right and Wrong Use of Reason

[The question was raised] whether the tools of the arts and nature are useful to theology. [Martin Luther answered:] "One knife cuts better than another. So good tools- for example, languages and arts- can contribute to clearer teaching. Just as many, like Erasmus, are equipped with languages and the arts and nevertheless make damaging mistakes, so the same thing happens with weapons, most of which are made for slaughter. A thing must be distinguished from its misuse. Job distinguished thus when he said, 'You speak as one of the foolish women would speak' [Job 2:10]. This text has always pleased me on account of its proper distinction between the creature and its abuse."

[The question was asked,] Is the light of reason also useful [to theology]? [Martin Luther answered:] "I make distinction. Reason under the devil's control is harmful, and the more clever and successful it is, the more harm it does. We see this in the case of learned men who on the basis of their reason disagree with the Word. On the other hand, when illuminated by the Holy Spirit, reason helps to interpret the Holy Scriptures. So Cochlaeus' tongue speaks blasphemies while my tongue speaks God's praise. Nevertheless, it is the same instrument in both of us. It is a tongue, whether before or after faith. The tongue, as a tongue, doesn't contribute to faith, and yet it serves faith when the heart is illuminated. So reason, when illuminated [by the Spirit], helps faith by reflecting on something, but reason without faith isn't and can't be helpful. Without faith the tongue utters nothing but blasphemies, as we see in the case of Duke George. But reason that's illuminated takes all its thoughts from the Word. The substance remains and the unreal disappears when reason is illuminated by the Spirit.

Luther's Works, Vol. 54, p. 71

Table Talk (Early in the year 1533)

The Production of Books Seems Endless

He [Martin Luther] deplored the abundance of books and writers: "There will be a boundless flood of books, for any and everybody will be writing a book to feed his pride, while others will increase this evil in quest for gain. So the Bible will be buried under a mass of literature about the Bible, and the text itself will be neglected, though the experts in the text are the best men in every discipline. A good disciple of Bartolus is a good lawyer. But today everybody hastens to consult writers.

"As a young man I made myself familiar with the Bible; by reading it again and again I came to know my way about in it. Only then did I consult writers [of books about the Bible]. But finally I had to put them out of my sight and wrestle with the Bible itself. It's better to see with one's own eyes than with another's. On this account, because of the bad example, I would wish that all my books were buried. Otherwise everybody will imitate me and try to become famous by writing, as if Christ had died for the sake of our fickle glory and not for the hallowing of His name."


Table Talk
Between July 1 and 10, 1539
Luther's Works, Vol. 54: 361

One Should Not Pay Too Much Attention to Dreams

"This is where dreams come from. Man's spirit can't rest, for Satan is there even when a man is asleep, though angels are also present. The devil can so frighten me that sweat pours from me in my sleep.

"I don't pay attention to either dreams or signs. I have the Word, and that I let suffice. I don't want an angel to come to me, I wouldn't believe him now anyway, although the time may come when I would desire it in special circumstances. I don't say that dreams and signs are of value at other times, nor do I care, for we already have everything we should have in the Scriptures. Troubled dreams are of the devil, because everything that serves death and terror and murder and lies is the devil's handiwork.

"Satan has often distracted me from prayer and has put such thoughts into my head that I ran away from it. The most severe bouts I have had with him I had when I was in bed at my Katy's side."

Martin Luther

Table Talk (Spring, 1533)

Luther's Works, Vol. 54: 90

Treatment of Melancholy, Despair, Etc.

When I was in spiritual distress a gentle word would restore my spirit. Sometimes my confessor said to me when I repeatedly discussed silly sins with him, 'You are a fool. God is not incensed against you, but you are incensed against God. God is not angry with you, but you are angry with God.' This was magnificently said, although it was before the light of the gospel.

"Right here at this table, when the rest of you were in Jena, Pomeranus sometimes consoled me when I was sad by saying, no doubt God is thinking: What more can I do with this man? I have given him so many excellent gifts, and yet he despairs of my grace!" These words were a great comfort to me. As a voice from heaven stuck me in my heart, although I think Pomeranus did not realize at the time what he had said and that it was so well said. 

"Those who are troubled with melancholy," he [Martin Luther] said, "ought to be very careful not to be alone, for God created the fellowship of the church and commanded brotherliness, as the Scriptures testify, 'Woe to him who is alone when he falls,' etc. [Eccles. 4:10]. To be gloomy before God is not pleasing to Him, although He would permit us to be depressed before the world. He does not wish me to have a long face in His presence, as He says, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked' [Ezek. 33:11] and 'Rejoice in the Lord' [Phil. 4:4]. He desires not a servant who does not expect good things of Him.

"Although I know this, I am of a different mind ten times in the course of the day. But I resist the devil, and often it is with a fart that I chase him away. When he tempts me with silly sins I say, 'Devil, yesterday I broke wind too. Have you written it down on your list?' When I say to him, 'You have been put to shame,' he believes it, for he does not want to be despised. Afterward, if I engage him in further conversation, I upbraid him with the pope and say, 'If you do the same as he does, who is your pope that I should celebrate him? Look what an abomination he has prepared, and it continues to this day!' Thus I remind myself of the forgiveness of sin and of Christ and I remind Satan of the abomination of the pope. This abomination is so great that I am of good cheer and rejoice, and I confess that the abomination of the papacy after the time of Christ is a great consolation to me. Consequently those who say that one should not rebuke the pope are dreadful scolds. Go right ahead and inveigh against the pope, especially if the devil disturbs you about justification. He often troubles me with trivialities. I don't notice this when I'm depressed, but when I feel better I recognize it easily.

"Well, then, our furious foe has done us much harm. I know that I shall see him and his flaming missiles in the last day. AS long as we have pure teaching he will not harm us, but if the teaching is wrong we are done for. But praise be to God, Who gave us the Word and also allowed His only Son to die for us! He did not do this in vain. Accordingly we should entertain the hope that we are saints, that we are saved, and that this will be manifest when it is revealed. Since Christ accepted the thief on the cross just as he was and received Paul after all his blasphemies and persecutions, we have no reason to despair. As a matter of fact, all of us must be saved just as the thief and Paul were. Good God, what do you think it means that He has given His only Son? It means that He also offers whatever else He possesses. We have no reason, therefore, to fear His wrath, although we must continue to fear on account of the old Adam, who is still unable to understand this as it ought to be understood. If we had only the first three words of the Creed, 'I believe in God the Father,' they would still be far beyond our understanding and reason. In short, it does not occur to man that God is Father. If it did, man could not live for a single moment. Accordingly in this infirm flesh we must have faith, for if we were capable of fully believing, heaven would already be here. There is therefore no reason to fear, in so far as the object of fear is concerned, and yet we cannot understand and are compelled on account of the weakness of the flesh to suffer assaults of fear and desperation. Thus the catechism remains lord, and there is nobody who understands it. I am accordingly compelled to pray it every day, even aloud, and whenever I happen to be prevented by the press of duties from observing my hour of prayer, the entire day is bad for me. Prayer helps us very much and gives us a cheerful heart, not on account of any merit in the work, but because we have spoken with God and found everything to be in order.

"Having been taught by experience I can say how you ought to restore your spirit when you suffer from spiritual depression. When you are assailed by gloom, despair, or a troubled conscience you should eat, drink, and talk with others. If you can find help for yourself by thinking of a girl, do so.

"There was a bishop who had a sister in a convent. She was disturbed by various dreams about her brother. She betook herself to her brother and complained to him that she was again and again agitated by bad dreams. He at once prepared a sumptuous dinner and urged his sister to eat and drink. The following day he asked her whether she had been annoyed by dreams during the night. 'No,' she responded. 'I slept well and had no dreams at all.' 'Go, then,' he said. 'Take care of your body in defiance of Satan, and the bad dreams will stop.'

"But his you ought to know, that other remedies are suitable for other persons. Copious drinking benefits me when I am in this condition. But I would not advise a young person to drink more because this might stimulate his sexual desire. In short, abstinence is beneficial for some and a drinking bout for others. Augustine says wisely in his rule, 'Not equally for all because you are not all equally strong.' So he speaks about the body and so we can speak about illnesses of the spirit."


Martin Luther
Luther's Works, Volume 54, pp.15-18
Table Talk, November 30, 1531