Sunday, February 8, 2015

What we should say?

"He [Latomus] says that I lack the evangelical modesty which I enjoin, and that this is especially true of the book in which I replied to the sophists of Louvain when they condemned my teachings. Now I have never insisted that anyone consider me modest or holy, but only that everyone recognize what the gospel is. If they do this, I give anyone freedom to attack my life to his heart's content. My boast is that I have injured no one's life or reputation, but only sharply reproached, as godless and sacrilegious, those assertions, inventions, and doctrines which are against the Word of God. I do not apologize for this, for I have good precedents. John the Baptist [Luke 3:7] and Christ after him [Matt. 23:33] called the Pharisees the 'offspring of vipers.' So excessive and outrageous was this abuse of such learned, holy, powerful, and honored men that they said in reply that He had a demon [John 7:20]. If in this instance Latomus had been judge, I wonder what the verdict would have been! Elsewhere Christ calls them 'blind' [Matt. 23:16], 'crooked,' 'liars,' 'sons of the devil' [John 8:44, 55]. Good God, even Paul lacked evangelical modesty when he anathematized the teachers of the Galatians [Gal. 1:8] who were, I suppose, great men. Others he calls 'dogs' [Phil. 3:2], 'empty talkers' [Tit. 1:10], 'deceivers' [Col. 2:4, 8]. Further, he accused to his face the magician Elymas with being a 'son of the devil, full of all deceit and villainy' [Acts 13:10].
I hold that the sophists have no right to judge me, for they themselves see that my work does not disagree with the apostles, Christ, and the prophets. But according to such teachers as Latomus, in our day we show evangelical modesty when we kneel before godless and blasphemous bishops and sophists, and say: 'Gracious Lord, your Grace does well; distinguished Master, your Excellency speaks well.' If you tell them what they are - ignorant, stupid, godless blasphemers against God's Word, doing incalculable damage to the service of God and souls - then you are called one who offends against the whole gospel." - Martin Luther, Against Latomus

No comments: