Part 46 (1/2)

THAT DOCTRINES OF MEN ARE TO BE REJECTED

TOGETHER WITH A REPLY TO TEXTS QUOTED IN DEFENCE OF THE DOCTRINES OF MEN (VON MENSCHENLEHREN ZU MEIDEN)

1522

INTRODUCTION

”Silver and gold have I none: but such as I have give I thee”

Somewhat in the spirit of these words Luther had planned to dedicate a s, Hans von Berlepsch For a ti the expense of his entertain more royally treated than he deserved Not only the material comforts hich he was surrounded appealed to him, however Von Berlepsch was interested in Luther and in Luther's work He talked with hiious questions, and expressed a desire to havethe authority of the teachings of the Roman Church which had no direct warrant in Scripture

To this desire of von Berlepsch we can trace the origin of our treatise, That the Doctrines of Men are to be Rejected There is no dedication to von Berlepsch, however, and no reference to theLuther returned fro early in March, 1522, and on the 28th of March sent the first part of the treatise to Spalatin, with the request that it be forwarded to von Berlepsch The second part, the Reply to Texts Quoted in Defence of the Doctrines of Men, was added in a second edition

This was not the only writing forwarded to von Berlepsch inPerhaps of even greater interest was the gift sent on September 25, 1522--one of the first complete copies of the German New Testament

Buchwald has called our treatise ”a model of sound explanation of the Scriptures for the purpose of refuting error” We must caution the reader, however, not to think of Luther's occasional state the authority of Scripture as final Luther is still largely uponthe pre the practice of the popes, priests and monks from the fundamental assu years, the controversies with the leaders of the peasants and with the heavenly prophets, led him to clearer views Where in this treatise he wrote, ”The sas which are found in the Books of Moses are found in the others For the other books do no more than sho in the course of history the word of Moses was kept or not kept,” he was thinking of the one Gospel which he found everywhere in the Scriptures But he distinguished carefully between the permanent and the temporary in the Books of Moses and elsewhere, and speaks of ”that which God has decreed” in the Old Testa the consciences of men” (p 442) That which is permanent is the Gospel, ”for it is beyond question that all the Scriptures point to Christ alone” (p 432) Probably the clearest statement of his views is found in a seriven inWe must not only ask whether it is God's Word, whether God spoke it, but much more, to whom He spoke it, whether it applies to you or to another” ”The false prophets rush in and say, 'Dear people, this is God's Word' It is true, and we cannot deny it; but we are not the people to who the treatise, therefore, it will be well to consider when it ritten and for whom; and not to think of it as a final statement of Luther's views on the authority of the Scriptures

The treatise is found in the original Geren, 28, 318-343; in Berlin, 2, 289-314

W A LAMBERT

South Bethlehem, PA

THAT WE ARE TO REJECT THE DOCTRINES OF MEN:

TOGETHER WITH A REPLY TO THE TEXTS QUOTED IN DEFENCE OF THE DOCTRINES OF MEN

To all who read or hear this little bookAmen

I, Martin Luther, have published this brief book for the co of the poor consciences which are by the law of e in monasteries and convents; that they then themselves with the Word of God, so as to be steadfast in the pains of death and other trials But those who are overbold and unruly, who give no other evidence of being Christians except that they can eat eggs, es, etc,--these I warn that I do not wish ard them as the filthy people who defiled the cah such cleanliness was enjoined upon the people that a o outside the camp to ease himself and to cover up with earth that which cas in our nest [Deut 14:18, Lev

11:19], until God teach them manners This Christian liberty I would have preached only to poor, humble, captive consciences, so that poor children, nuns and e may inform their consciences how they er, and use their freedorant His blessing Amen

_That the doctrines of men are to be rejected: proof from the Scriptures_

I

Moses in Deuteronomy iv, 2 says, ”Ye shall not add unto the hich I coht from it,” [Deut 4:2]

But some one will say that Moses speaks only of his word; but to the books of Moses there have also been added many books of the prophets and the entire New Testa new has been added: the sas that are found in the books of Moses are found in the others For the other books do no more than sho in the course of history the word of Moses was kept or not kept It is indeed stated in different words and the histories are different, but thoughout there is one and the sae them to point out anywhere in all the books added to the books of Moses a single word that is not found earlier in the books of Moses For it is beyond question that all the Scriptures point to Christ alone Now Christ says, in John V, 46, ”Moses wrote ofthat is in the other books is also in the books of Moses, and these are the original documents

II

Isaiah xxix, 13, which the Lord quotes in Matthew xv, 8: ”This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, but their heart is far fro the doctrines and commandments of men” [Isa 29:13, Matt 15:8]