Part 10 (2/2)
_Second_, The emperor and the princes should send to the Bohemians some pious and sensible bishops and scholars; but by no ate or inquisitor, for those people are utter ignoras Christian; they seek not the welfare of souls, but, like all the pope's hypocrites, only their oer, profit and glory; indeed, they were the prime movers in this miserable business at Constance The men thus sent into Bohemia should inform themselves about the faith of the Bohemians, and whether it be possible to unite all their sects Then the pope should, for their souls' sake, lay aside his supre to the decree of the most Christian Council of Nicaea[228], allow the Boheue[229], and he should be confirmed by the bishop of Olary, or the bishop of Gnesen in Poland, or the bishop of Magdeburg in Gerh if he is confirmed by one or two of these, as was the custoht to oppose such an arrangement, and if he does oppose it, he becomes a wolf and a tyrant; no one should follow him and his ban should be met with a counter-ban
If, however, it were desired, in honor of the See of St Peter, to do this with the pope's consent, I should be satisfied, provided it does not cost the Bohemians a _heller_ and the pope does not bind them at all nor ations, as he does all other bishops, in despite of God and of justice If he will not be satisfied with the honor of having his consent asked, then let thehts, laws and tyrannies; let the election suffice, and let the blood of all the souls which are endangered cry out against hih to have offered tyranny an honor
If it cannot be otherwise, then an election and approval by the common people can even now be quite as valid as a confirmation by a tyrant; but I hope this will not be necessary Soood bishops and scholars will sometiainst co them to abolish both kinds in the sacrament[233], since that is neither unchristian nor heretical, but they should be allowed to retain their own practice, if they wish
Yet the new bishop should be careful that no discord arise because of such a practice, but should kindly instruct theht not to cause dissension that the clergy differ from the laity in manner of life and in dress In liketo receive the Roman canon law, they should not be forced to do so, but we should first make sure that they live in accordance with faith and with the Scriptures For Christian faith and life can well exist without the intolerable laws of the pope, nay, they cannot well exist unless there be fewer of these Roman laws, or none at all In baptism we have become free and have been made subject to God's Word only; why should any man ensnare us in his words? As St Paul says, ”Ye have become free, be not servants of men,” [1 Cor 7:23; Gal 5:1] i e of those who rule with man-made laws
If I knew that the Picards[235] held no other error touching the sacrament of the altar except that they believe that the bread and wine are present in their true nature, but that the body and blood of Christ are truly present under them, then I would not condemn them, but would let theue For it is not an article of faith that bread and wine are not essentially and naturally in the sacrament, but this is an opinion of St Thomas[236]
and the pope On the other hand, it is an article of faith that in the natural bread and wine the true natural body and blood of Christ are present[237] And so we should tolerate the opinions of both sides until they co that bread is there or is not there For we have to endureas they are not harmful to faith On the other hand, if they had a different faith[238], I would rather have them outside the Church; yet I would teach theht be discovered in Bohemia should be tolerated until the archbishop had been restored and had gradually brought all the people together again in one common doctrine They will assuredly never be united by force, nor by defiance, nor by haste; it will take time and forbearance Had not even Christ to tarry with His disciples a long while and bear with their unbelief, until they believed His resurrection? If they but had again a regular bishop and church order, without Ros would soon be better
The restoration of the teed to the Church should not be too strictly demanded, but since we are Christians and each is bound to help the rest, it is in our power, for the sake of unity, to give theht of God and men For Christ says, ”Where two are at one with each other on earth, there am I in the midst of them” [Matt 18:19 f] Would to God that on both sides orking toward this unity, offering our hands to one another in brotherly huhts! Love is greater and more necessary than the papacy at Rome, or there can be papacy without love and love without papacy
With this counsel I shall have done what I could If the pope or his followers hinder it, they shall render an account for seeking their own things rather than the things of their neighbor, contrary to the love of God [Phil 2:4] The pope ought to give up his papacy and all his possessions and honors, if he could by that o to destruction rather than yield a hair's-breadth of his presumptuous authority And yet he would be the ”most holy”! Here my responsibility ends
[Sidenote: The Universities]
[Sidenote: Aristotle]
25 The universities also need a good, thorough refor which the papacy has instituted and ordered is directed only towards the increasing of sin and error What else are the universities, if their present condition reed, than as the book of Maccabees says, _Gyloriae_[239][2 Macc 4:9, 12], in which loose living prevails, the Holy Scriptures and the Christian faith are little taught, and the blind, heathen Aristotle master Aristotle[240]
rules alone, even ard my advice would be that Aristotle's _Physics_, _Metaphysics_, _On the Soul_, _Ethics_, which have hitherto been thought his best books, should be altogether discarded, together with all the rest of his books which boast of treating the things of nature, although nothing can be learned fros of the Spirit
Moreover no one has so far understood his , and many souls have been burdened with profitless labor and study, at the cost of much precious tie of nature than is written in these books It grieves me to the heart that this damned, conceited, rascally heathen has with his false words deluded and made fools of so ue upon us for our sins
Why, this wretched man, in his best book, _On the Soul_, teaches that the soul dies with the body, although many have tried with vain words to save his reputation As though we had not the Holy Scriptures, in which we are abundantly instructed about all things, and of the! And yet this dead heathen has conquered and obstructed and al God, so that when I think of thiselse than that the evil spirit has introduced the study of Aristotle Again, his book on _Ethics_ is the worst of all books It flatly opposes divine grace and all Christian virtues, and yet it is considered one of his best works Aith such books! Keep theeration, or of conde what I do not understand! My dear friend, I knohereof I speak I know my Aristotle as well as you or the likes of you I have lectured on him[241] and heard lectures on him, and I understand him better than do St Thomas or Scotus[242] This I can say without pride, and if necessary I can prove it I care not that so reat minds have wearied themselves over him for so many hundred years Such objections do not disturb me as once they did; for it is plain as day that other errors have remained or even more centuries in the world and in the universities
I should be glad to see Aristotle's books on _Logic_, _Rhetoric_ and _Poetics_ retained or used in an abridged for people in speaking and preaching But the commentaries and notes should be abolished, and as Cicero's _Rhetoric_ is read without coic_ should be read as it is, without such ais learned fro and a weariness to the flesh Besides this there are the languages--Latin, Greek and Hebrew--the ive over to the specialists, and, indeed, the reform would come of itself, if ere only seriously bent upon it In truth, much depends upon it; for it is here[243] that the Christian youth and the best of our people, hom the future of Christendom lies, are to be educated and trained Therefore I consider that there is no work h refor worse or more worthy of the devil than unreformed universities
[Sidenote: The Canon Law]
The medical men I leave to reforians I take as my share, and I say, in the first place, that it ell if the canon law, from the first letter to the last, and especially the decretals, were utterly blotted out The Bible contains , and so the study of the canon law only stands in the way of the study of the Holy Scriptures; moreover, it sh there were ht as well be destroyed, for the pope has taken the whole canon law captive and imprisoned it in the ”chamber of his heart,”[244] so that the study of it is henceorth a waste of time and a farce At present the canon law is not what is in the books, but what is in the sill of the pope and his flatterers Your cause hly established in the canon law; still the pope has his _scriniuuided by that Now it is ofttimes a knave, and even the devil himself, who rules this _scrinium_, and they boast that it is ruled by the Holy Spirit! Thus they deal with Christ's unfortunate people They give them many laws and themselves keep none of them, but others they compel either to keep them or else to buy release
Since, then, the pope and his followers have suspended the whole canon law, and since they pay no heed to it, but regard their oanton will as a law exalting them above all the world, we should follow their example and for our part also reject these books Why should aste our ti them? We could never discover the whole arbitrary will of the pope, which has now become the canon law The canon law has arisen in the devil's name, let it all in the name of God, and let there be no more _doctores decretorum_[246] in the world, but only _doctores scrinii papalis_, that is, ”hypocrites of the pope”! It is said that there is no better te the Turks, who have neither spiritual nor temporal law, but only their Koran; and weus, with our spiritual and te to the light of nature, still less according to Holy Scripture
[Sidenote: Secular Law]
The temporal law,--God help us! what a wilderness it has becoh it is much better, wiser and ood about it except the name, still there is far too ood rulers would be law enough; as St Paul says in I Corinthians vi, ”Is there no one ao to law before heathen courts?” [1 Cor 6:1] It seems just to me that territorial laws and territorial custoeneral imperial laws, and the imperial laws be used only in case of necessity Would to God that as every land has its own peculiar character, so it were ruled by its own brief laws, as the lands were ruled before these imperial laere invented, and many lands are still ruled without them! These diffuse and far-etched laws are only a burden to the people, and hinder causes iven this ht and attention than I ay]
My friends the theologians have spared themselves pains and labor; they leave the Bible in peace and read the Sentences I should think that the Sentences[248] ought to be the first study of young students in theology and the Bible ought to be the study for the doctors But now it is turned around; the Bible coree is reached, and the Sentences come last They are attached forever to the doctorate, and that with such a soleation that a man who is not a priest may indeed read the Bible, but the Sentences a priest must read A married man, I observe, could be a Doctor of the Bible, but under no circuood fortune can we expect if we act so perversely and in this way put the Bible, the holy Word of God, so far to the rear?
Moreover the pope commands, with many severe words, that his laws are to be read and used in the schools and the courts, but little is said of the Gospel Thus it is the custom that in the schools and the courts the Gospel lies idle in the dust under the bench[249], to the end that the pope's harmful laws may rule alone
If we are called by the title of teachers[250] of Holy Scripture, then we ought to be compelled, in accordance with our nah even this title is too proud and boastful and no one ought to be proclaiht be suffered, if the work justified the name; but now, under the despotisians more of heathen and human opinion than of the holy and certain doctrine of Scripture What, then, are we to do?
I know of no other way than huy, Pope, emperor and universities may make Doctors of Arts, of Medicine, of Laws, of the Sentences; but be assured that no one will make a Doctor of Holy Scripture, save only the Holy Ghost froht of God Himself”
[John 6:45] Now the Holy Ghost does not concern Himself about red or brown birettas[251] or other decorations, nor does He ask whether one is old or young, layin or ainst the prophet who rode upon it [Num 22:28] Would God that orthy to have such doctors given us, whether they were layin True, they now try to force the Holy Ghost into pope, bishops and doctors, although there is no sign or indication whatever that He is in them