Lutheran Catholicity: A Catalogue of Testimonies

The Catholicity of "Faith Alone"

2012-01-18T04:16:00.000-08:00

"At 3:28 Luther introduced the adv. “only” into his translation of Romans (1522), “alleyn durch den Glauben” (WAusg 7.38); cf. Aus der Bibel 1546, “alleine durch den Glauben” (WAusg, DB 7.39); also 7.3-27 (Pref. to the Epistle). See further his Sendbrief vom Dolmetschen, of 8 Sept. 1530 (WAusg 30.2 [1909], 627-49; “On Translating: An Open Letter” [LuthW 35.175-202]). Although “alleyn/alleine” finds no corresponding adverb in the Greek text, two of the points that Luther made in his defense of the added adverb were that it was demanded by the context and that sola was used in the theological tradition before him.

Robert Bellarmine listed eight earlier authors who used sola (Disputatio de controversiis: De justificatione 1.25 [Naples: G. Giuliano, 1856], 4.501-3):

Origen, Commentarius in Ep. ad Romanos, cap. 3 (PG 14.952).

Hilary, Commentarius in Matthaeum 8:6 (PL 9.961).

Basil, Hom. de humilitate 20.3 (PG 31.529C).

Ambrosiaster, In Ep. ad Romanos 3.24 (CSEL 81.1.119): “sola fide justificati sunt dono Dei,” through faith alone they have been justified by a gift of God; 4.5 (CSEL 81.1.130).

John Chrysostom, Hom. in Ep. ad Titum 3.3 (PG 62.679 [not in Greek text]).

Cyril of Alexandria, In Joannis Evangelium 10.15.7 (PG 74.368 [but alludes to Jas 2:19]).

Bernard, In Canticum serm. 22.8 (PL 183.881): “solam justificatur per fidem,” is justified by faith alone.

Theophylact, Expositio in ep. ad Galatas 3.12-13 (PG 124.988).

To these eight Lyonnet added two others (Quaestiones, 114-18):

Theodoret, Affectionum curatio 7 (PG 93.100; ed. J. Raeder [Teubner], 189.20-24).

Thomas Aquinas, Expositio in Ep. I ad Timotheum cap. 1, lect. 3 (Parma ed., 13.588): “Non est ergo in eis [moralibus et caeremonialibus legis] spes iustificationis, sed in sola fide, Rom. 3:28: Arbitramur justificari hominem per fidem, sine operibus legis” (Therefore the hope of justification is not found in them [the moral and ceremonial requirements of the law], but in faith alone, Rom 3:28: We consider a human being to be justified by faith, without the works of the law). Cf. In ep. ad Romanos 4.1 (Parma ed., 13.42a): “reputabitur fides eius, scilicet sola sine operibus exterioribus, ad iustitiam”; In ep. ad Galatas 2.4 (Parma ed., 13.397b): “solum ex fide Christi” [Opera 20.437, b41]).

See further:

Theodore of Mopsuestia, In ep. ad Galatas (ed. H. B. Swete), 1.31.15.

Marius Victorinus (ep. Pauli ad Galatas (ed. A. Locher), ad 2.15-16: “Ipsa enim fides sola iustificationem dat-et sanctificationem” (For faith itself alone gives justification and sanctification); In ep. Pauli Ephesios (ed. A. Locher), ad 2.15: “Sed sola fides in Christum nobis salus est” (But only faith in Christ is salvation for us).

Augustine, De fide et operibus, 22.40 (CSEL 41.84-85): “licet recte dici possit ad solam fidem pertinere dei mandata, si non mortua, sed viva illa intellegatur fides, quae per dilectionem operatur” (Although it can be said that God’s commandments pertain to faith alone, if it is not dead [faith], but rather understood as that live faith, which works through love”). Migne Latin Text: Venire quippe debet etiam illud in mentem, quod scriptum est, In hoc cognoscimus eum, si mandata ejus servemus. Qui dicit, Quia cognovi eum, et mandata ejus non servat, mendax est, et in hoc veritas non est (I Joan. II, 3, 4). Et ne quisquam existimet mandata ejus ad solam fidem pertinere: quanquam dicere hoc nullus est ausus, praesertim quia mandata dixit, quae ne multitudine cogitationem spargerent [Note: [Col. 0223] Sic Mss. Editi vero, cogitationes parerent.], In illis duobus tota Lex pendet et Prophetae (Matth. XXII, 40): licet recte dici possit ad solam fidem pertinere Dei mandata, si non mortua, sed viva illa intelligatur fides, quae per dilectionem operatur; tamen postea Joannes ipse aperuit quid diceret, cum ait: Hoc est mandatum ejus, ut credamus nomini Filii ejus Jesu Christi, et diligamns invicem (I Joan. III, 23) See De fide et operibus, Cap. XXII, §40, PL 40:223."

Joseph A. Fitzmyer: Romans, A New Translation with introduction and Commentary, 1993, 360-361.

Florovsky on the Early Church and Scripture

2011-11-27T03:03:00.000-08:00

'The early church had no doubt about the sufficiency of the Scriptures and never tried to go beyond [them] and always claimed not to have gone beyond [them].'

George Florovsky (1893-1979), Russian Orthodox 'emigre' theologian, in 'The Authority of the Ancient Councils and the Tradition of the Fathers', in Glaube, Geist, Geschichte: Festschrift fur Ernst Benz (Leiden: Brill, 1967, pp177-88).

Chrysostom on Faith and Works as Both the Fruit of God's Grace

2011-10-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

'God’s mission was not to save people in order that they may remain barren or inert. For Scripture says that faith has saved us. Put better: Since God willed it, faith has saved us. Now in what case, tell me, does faith save without itself doing anything at all? Faith’s workings themselves are a gift of God, lest anyone should boast. What then is Paul saying? Not that God has forbidden works but that he has forbidden us to be justified by works. No one, Paul says, is justified by works, precisely in order that the grace and benevolence of God may become apparent.'

John Chrysostom, Homily on Ephesians 4.2.9. in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament VI: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (ed. Mark J Edwards, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p. 134.

Chrysostom on Justification by Faith Alone

2011-10-23T18:29:00.000-07:00

“But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together to consider of this matter. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that of old days God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe.” (v. 5–7.) Observe Peter from the first standing aloof (κεχωρισμένον) from the affair, and even to this time Judaizing. And yet (says he) “ye know.” (ch. x. 45; xi. 2.) Perhaps those were present who of old found fault with him in the matter of Cornelius, and went in with him (on that occasion): for this reason he brings them forward as witnesses. “From old days,” he says, “did choose among you.” What means, “Among you?” Either, in Palestine, or, you being present. “By my mouth.” Observe how he shows that it was God speaking by him, and no human utterance. “And God, that knoweth the hearts, gave testimony unto them:” he refers them to the spiritual testimony: “by giving them the Holy Ghost even as unto us.” (v. 8.) Everywhere he puts the Gentiles upon a thorough equality. “And put no difference between us and them, having purified their hearts by faith.” (v. 9.) From faith alone, he says, they obtained the same gifts. This is also meant as a lesson to those (objectors); this is able to teach even them that faith only is needed, not works nor circumcision. For indeed they do not say all this only by way of apology for the Gentiles, but to teach (the Jewish believers) also to abandon the Law. However, at present this is not said. “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples?” (v. 10.) What means, “Tempt ye God?” As if He had not power to save by faith. Consequently, it proceeds from a want of faith, this bringing in the Law. Then he shows that they themselves were nothing benefited by it, and he turns the whole (stress of his speech) against the Law, not against them, and (so) cuts short the accusation of them: “which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear. But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus we shall be saved, even as they.” (v. 11.) How full of power these words! The same that Paul says at large in the Epistle to the Romans, the same says Peter here. “For if Abraham,” says (Paul), “was justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God.”

John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, NPNF1: Vol. XIII, A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, Homily 32 on Acts 15:1 [italics mine]

Jaroslav Pelikan on the Catholicity of the Reformation

2011-10-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

'Every major tenet of the Reformation had considerable support in the catholic tradition. That was eminently true of the central Reformation teaching of justification by faith alone…That the ground of our salvation is the unearned favor of God in Christ, and that all we need do to obtain it is to trust that favor – this was the confession of great catholic saints and teachers…Rome’s reactions [to the Protestant reformers] were the doctrinal decrees of the Council of Trent and the Roman Catechism based upon those decrees. In these decrees, the Council of Trent selected and elevated to official status the notion of justification by faith plus works, which was only one of the doctrines of justification in the medieval theologians and ancient fathers. When the reformers attacked this notion in the name of the doctrine of justification by faith alone – a doctrine also attested to by some medieval theologians and ancient fathers – Rome reacted by canonizing one trend in preference to all the others. What had previously been permitted(justification by faith alone), now became forbidden. In condemning the Protestant Reformation, the Council of Trent condemned part of its own catholic tradition.'

Jaroslav Pelikan (1923-2006) The Riddle Of Roman Catholicism (Abingdon Press, 1959)[italics mine]

Note - No, Pelikan is not a church father (!), but we thought this paragraph from one of his early books was worth recording here. We're filing it under a new category, 'Modern Authors', in which we hope to have more quotes soon, and under 'Lutherans on the Fathers', since Pelikan was Lutheran when he wrote this.

Chrysostom Preaches Law & Gospel

2011-10-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

'Suppose someone should be caught in the act of adultery and the foulest crimes and then be thrown into prison. Suppose, next, that judgment was going to be passed against him and that he would be condemned. Suppose that just at that moment a letter should come from the Emperor setting free from any accounting or examination all those detained in prison. If the prisoner should refuse to take advantage of the pardon, remain obstinate and choose to be brought to trial, to give an account, and to undergo punishment, he will not be able thereafter to avail himself of the Emperor's favor. For when he made himself accountable to the court, examination, and sentence, he chose of his own accord to deprive himself of the imperial gift. This is what happened in the case of the Jews. Look how it is. All human nature was taken in the foulest evils. "All have sinned," says Paul. They were locked, as it were, in a prison by the curse of their transgression of the Law. The sentence of the judge was going to be passed against them. A letter from the King came down from heaven. Rather, the King himself came. Without examination, without exacting an account, he set all men free from the chains of their sins. All, then, who run to Christ are saved by his grace and profit from his gift. But those who wish to find justification from the Law will also fall from grace. They will not be able to enjoy the King's loving-kindness because they are striving to gain salvation by their own efforts; they will draw down on themselves the curse of the Law because by the works of the Law no flesh will find justification.'

John Chrysostom, Discourses Against Judaizing Christians, in Discourse I:6-II:1.

Chrysostom on Justification by Grace Alone through Faith in Jesus Christ

2011-10-06T17:29:00.000-07:00

'What does he mean when he says: “I have declared your justice?” He did not simply say: “I have given,” but “I have declared.” What does this mean? That he has justified our race not by right actions, not by toils, not by barter and exchange, but by grace alone (ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ χάριτος μόνης). Paul, too, made this clear when he said: “But now the justice of God has been made manifest independently of the Law.” But the justice of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ (δικαιοσύνη δὲ Θεοῦ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ) and not through any labor and suffering.'

John Chrysostom (349-407), from 'Adversus Judaeos', VII, §3, PG 48:919; translation in Fathers of the Church, Vol. 68, Discourses Against Judaizing Christians, Disc. 7.3.2 (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1979), pp. 186-187.

Irenaeus on the Clarity of Scripture

2011-08-31T23:22:00.000-07:00

'These things fall plainly under our observation, and are clearly and unambiguously in express terms set forth in the Sacred Scriptures...The entire Scriptures - the Prophets and the Gospels - can be clearly, unambiguously and harmoniously understood by all, although all do not believe them.'

Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 2.27.1-2, Ante-Nicene Fathers 1:398.

Vincent of Lerins on Original Guilt

2011-06-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

"For who ever before that profane Pelagius attributed so much antecedent strength to free will as to deny the necessity of God’s grace to aid it towards good in every single act? Who ever before his monstrous disciple Cœlestius denied that the whole human race is involved in the guilt of Adam’s sin?"

Vincent of Lerins (+445), Exposition of 1 Tim. vi. 20. from his 'Commonitory', Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Vo. XI, ch. XXIV, para62.

Note: This is a particularly important citation apropos the Eastern Orthodox, who generally deny that any inheritance of guilt was passed on to the human race as a legacy of Adam's original sin. The chief legacy of original sin for the Orthodox is mortality [see John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology, (London 1974), p145 (the main reason for this difference appears to centre on the interpretation of Romans 5:12)] and sensuality. Hence the general Orthodox non-comprehension of Western debates about forensic justification and the necessity of the imputation of Christ's righteousness to the believer, and in the place of these concerns their emphasis on the process of theosis or deification, by which the believer comes to share in God's holiness and is thus made fit for heaven.

Yet Vincent clearly believes in original guilt, and regards it as entirely orthodox, and he also claims that before Pelagius's disciple Coelestius no-one denied it. Whether or not this is strictly true, it is certainly an interesting comment coming from one usually associated with the semi-Pelagianism of the early monks of southern France and even nominated by the Orthodox as a representative of "Western Orthodoxy", a line of Western theologians supposedly untainted by the errors of Augustinianism. The questions raised by Vincent's remark invite further research - MH.

Gregory the Great on Forerunners to Antichrist

2011-06-12T17:36:00.001-07:00

"I confidently affirm that whoever calls himself sacerdos universalis, or desires to be so called by others is in his pride a forerunner of Antichrist."

Gregory the Great (c540-604), Bishop of Rome
Cited in The Cambridge Medieval History II:247 (1967)

Cyril of Jerusalem on Scripture's Authority

2011-05-19T20:20:00.000-07:00

Have thou in thy mind this seal, which for the present has been lightly touched in my discourse, by way of summary, but shall be stated, should the Lord permit, to the best of my power with the proof from the Scriptures. For concerning the divine and holy mysteries of the Faith, not even a casual statement must be delivered without the Holy Scriptures; nor must we be drawn aside by mere plausibility and artifices of speech. Even to me, who tell thee these things, give not absolute credence, unless thou receive the proof of the things which I announce from the Divine Scriptures. For this salvation which we believe depends not on ingenious reasoning, but on demonstration of the Holy Scriptures."

Cyril of Jerusalem [c. 318-386], Catechetical Lectures,
NPNF2: Vol.VII, Lecture IV:17.

Cyril of Jerusalem on Scripture and Tradition

2011-05-19T20:18:00.000-07:00

"But in learning the Faith and in professing it, acquire and keep that only, which is now delivered to thee by the Church, and which has been built up strongly out of all the Scriptures. For since all cannot read the Scriptures, some being hindered as to the knowledge of them by want of learning, and others by a want of leisure, in order that the soul may not perish from ignorance, we comprise the whole doctrine of the Faith in a few lines. This summary I wish you both to commit to memory when I recite it , and to rehearse it with all diligence among yourselves, not writing it out on paper, but engraving it by the memory upon your heart, taking care while you rehearse it that no Catechumen chance to overhear the things which have been delivered to you. I wish you also to keep this as a provision through the whole course of your life, and beside this to receive no other, neither if we ourselves should change and contradict our present teaching, nor if an adverse angel, transformed into an angel of light should wish to lead you astray. For though we or an angel from heaven preach to you any other gospel than that ye have received, let him be to you anathema. So for the present listen while I simply say the Creed, and commit it to memory; but at the proper season expect the confirmation out of Holy Scripture of each part of the contents. For the articles of the Faith were not composed as seemed good to men; but the most important points collected out of all the Scripture make up one complete teaching of the Faith. And just as the mustard seed in one small grain contains many branches, so also this Faith has embraced in few words all the knowledge of godliness in the Old and New Testaments. Take heed then, brethren, and hold fast the traditions which ye now receive, and write them an the table of your heart. Guard them with reverence, lest per chance the enemy despoil any who have grown slack; or lest some heretic pervert any of the truths delivered to you."

Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386), Catechetical Lectures, 5:12-13 [italics mine]

Chrysostom on Faith Alone

2011-04-04T18:17:00.000-07:00

For if even before this, the circumcision was made uncircumcision, much rather was it now, since it is cast out from both periods. But after saying that “it was excluded,” he shows also, how. How then does he say it was excluded? “By what law? of works? Nay, but by the law of faith.” See he calls the faith also a law delighting to keep to the names, and so allay the seeming novelty. But what is the “law of faith?” It is, being saved by grace. Here he shows God’s power, in that He has not only saved, but has even justified, and led them to boasting, and this too without needing works, but looking for faith only.

John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, Homily 7 vs. 27, NPNF Vol 11.

Origen on Faith Alone

2011-03-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

"The apostle is saying that it is only on the basis that one believes in
him who justifies the ungodly that righteousness is reckoned to a
man, even if he has not yet produced works of righteousness. For
faith which believes in the one who justifies is the beginning of
being justified by God. And this faith, when it has been justified,
inheres in the soil of the soul like a root that has
received rain so that when it begins to be cultivated through God's
law, branches arise from it which bring forth the fruit of works.
The root of righteousness, therefore, does not grow out of the
works, but the fruit of works grows out of the root of
righteousness, namely out of the root of righteousness which God
accepts even without works."

Origen, Commentary on Romans 2:6

Note - Origen's theology of justification as a whole, in which justification can increase or decrease, is undoubtedly a forerunner to the later doctrine of the Council of Trent. But he seems to come close, here in this much discussed passage from his commentary on Romans, to an insight similar to Luther's, whereby God justifies the ungodly without works. This insight must have haunted Origen, for elsewhere too in his great commentary on Romans he interpolates the word "alone" after "faith" when justification is in view. In fact, Origen is generally regarded as the first commenter on scripture to do this (not coincidentally he was the first ancient writer that we know of to wrestle with Romans in-depth). It is a great pity, then, that he did not integrate this insight into his theoloogy of justification as a whole; if he had, the course of Western theology may have been quite different.

Chrysostom on Abraham & Faith Alone

2011-03-29T16:19:00.000-07:00

"The patriarch Abraham himself, before receiving circumcision, had been declared righteous on the score of faith alone: before circumcision, the text says, “Abraham believed God, and credit for it brought him to righteousness.”

John Chrysostom, in Fathers of the Church, Vol. 82, Homilies on Genesis 18-45, 27.7 (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1990), p. 167.

Mark the Ascetic on Grace

2011-03-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

"Wishing to show that to fulfil every commandment is a duty, whereas sonship is a gift given to men through His own Blood, the Lord said: 'When you have done all that is commanded you, say: "We are useless servants: we have only done what was our duty"' (Luke 17:10). Thus the kingdom of heaven is not a reward for works, but a gift of grace prepared by the Master for his faithful servants."

Mark the Ascetic (5th century Greek monk who lived in the Egyptian desert), from On Those Who Think They Are Made Righteous by Works [The Philokalia, vol. 1 (London: Faber & Faber, 1979), pp. 125-127].

Athanasius on Scripture II

2011-03-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

"Let this, then, Christ-loving man, be our offering to you, just for a rudimentary sketch and outline, in a short compass, of the faith of Christ and of His Divine appearing usward. But you, taking occasion by this, if you light upon the text of the Scriptures, by genuinely applying your mind to them, will learn from them more completely and clearly the exact detail of what we have said. For they were spoken and written by God, through men who spoke for God."

Athanasius, De Incarnatione Verbi Dei, 56, NPNF Series II, IV:66.

Abelard on the Authority of Scripture

2011-03-04T01:00:00.000-08:00

"If, in Scripture, anything seems absurd, you are not permitted to say, 'The author of this book did not hold to the truth' - but rather that the codex is defective or that the interpreter erred or that you do not understand. But if anything seems contrary to truth in the works of later authors, which are contained in innumerable books, the reader or auditor is free to judge, so that he may approve what is pleasing and reject what gives offense, unless the matter is established by certain reason or by canonical authority (of the Scriptures)"

Peter Abelard (1079-1142), Sic et Non, in Great Issues in Western Civilization, 3rd ed., 1976, (ed. Tierney et al), pp. 397-398.

Note - Abelard may not ordinarily be considered a church father, but he is undoubtedly a brilliant and seminal early medieval thinker. Here he provides attestation to the belief of his age in the primacy of scripture over tradition.

Bernard on How the Devil Is Overthrown

2011-03-04T00:52:00.000-08:00

"When sin is forgiven it is certain that the devil is driven out from the sinner's heart, and for this reason Christ embraced all sinners in His statement: 'Now sentence is being passed on this world, now the prince of this world is overthrown.' God removes the sin of the one who makes humble confession, and thereby the devil loses the sovereignty he had gained over the human heart."

Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermon 6.4, The Works of Bernard of Clairvaux (vol. 2); The Song of Songs I, pg. 34.

Note - This has obvious parallels with Luther's conception of man 'between God and the Devil' and the centrality of repentance and forgiveness in the Christian life.

Hugh of St Victor on Justification II

2011-03-04T00:49:00.000-08:00

"We are truly made partakers of this redemption if we through faith are united to the Redeemer Himself, who through the flesh entered into fellowship with us."

Hugh of St. Victor, The Sacraments of the Christian Faith, Bk. 1, Pt. 8, chap. 7.

Hugh of St Victor on Justification

2011-03-01T23:39:00.000-08:00

"Know, then, at no time, whatever, from the beginning of the world till its end, there either was or is a truly good man, save who is justified by grace, and that no one could ever have obtained grace except through Christ."

Hugh of St. Victor (1078-1141), The Sacraments of the Christian Faith, Bk. 1, Pt. 8, chap. 11.

Bernard on the Novelty of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary

2011-02-20T20:01:00.000-08:00

“I am frightened now, seeing that certain of you have desired to change the condition of important matters, introducing a new festival unknown to the Church, unapproved by reason, unjustified by ancient tradition. Are we really more learned and more pious than our fathers? You will say, ‘One must glorify the Mother of God as much as Possible.’ This is true; but the glorification given to the Queen of Heaven demands discernment. This Royal Virgin does not have need of false glorifications, possessing as She does true crowns of glory and signs of dignity. Glorify the purity of Her flesh and the sanctity of Her life. Marvel at the abundance of the gifts of this Virgin; venerate Her Divine Son; exalt Her Who conceived without knowing concupiscence and gave birth without knowing pain. But what does one yet need to add to these dignities? People say that one must revere the conception which preceded the glorious birth-giving; for if the conception had not preceded, the birth-giving also would not have been glorious. But what would one say if anyone for the same reason should demand the same kind of veneration of the father and mother of Holy Mary? One might equally demand the same for Her grandparents and great-grandparents, to infinity. Moreover, how can there not be sin in the place where there was concupiscence? All the more, let one not say that the Holy Virgin was conceived of the Holy Spirit and not of man. I say decisively that the Holy Spirit descended upon Her, but not that He came with Her…I say that the Virgin Mary could not be sanctified before Her conception, inasmuch as She did not exist. If, all the more, She could not be sanctified in the moment of Her conception by reason of the sin which is inseparable from conception, then it remains to believe that She was sanctified after She was conceived in the womb of Her mother. This sanctification, if it annihilates sin, makes holy Her birth, but not Her conception. No one is given the right to be conceived in sanctity; only the Lord Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and He alone is holy from His very conception. Excluding Him, it is to all the descendants of Adam that must be referred that which one of them says of himself, both out of a feeling of humility and in acknowledgement of the truth: Behold I was conceived in iniquities (Ps. 50:7). How can one demand that this conception be holy, when it was not the work of the Holy Spirit, not to mention that it came from concupiscence? The Holy Virgin, of course, rejects that glory which, evidently, glorifies sin. She cannot in any way justify a novelty invented in spite of the teaching of the Church, a novelty which is the mother of imprudence, the sister of unbelief, and the daughter of lightmindedness”

Bernard of Clairvaux, Epistle 174, in The Letters of St Bernard of Clairvaux (Sutton, 1998).

Chrysostom on the Thief on the Cross II

2011-02-15T03:43:00.000-08:00

Now, I said this lest you think you have been badly affected by the first human beings. The devil expelled Adam, Christ welcomed the brigand: consider the difference. The former expelled the human being, though he had no sin except one blemish of disobedience; Christ welcomed a brigand into paradise though he was carrying countless burdens of sins. Surely this fact, that he welcomed a brigand into paradise, is not the only marvel, and nothing further? There is also something greater to mention: it is not that He welcomed a brigand, but did so before all the world, including the apostles, to prevent anyone despairing of a welcome or giving up hope of their salvation, once they see the one saddled with countless vices inhabiting the royal courts.

John Chrysostom, Sermon 7 on Genesis, in St. John Chrysostom, Eight Sermons on the Book of Genesis, pp. 122-23 (Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2004), Robert C. Hill translator.

Mathetes on Justification

2011-02-09T05:51:00.000-08:00

“As long then as the former time endured, He permitted us to be borne along by unruly impulses, being drawn away by the desire of pleasure and various lusts. This was not that He at all delighted in our sins, but that He simply endured them; nor that He approved the time of working iniquity which then was, but that He sought to form a mind conscious of righteousness, so that being convinced in that time of our unworthiness of attaining life through our own works, it should now, through the kindness of God, be vouchsafed to us; and having made it manifest that in ourselves we were unable to enter into the kingdom of God, we might through the power of God be made able. But when our wickedness had reached its height, and it had been clearly shown that its reward, punishment and death, was impending over us; and when the time had come which God had before appointed for manifesting His own kindness and power, how the one love of God, through exceeding regard for men, did not regard us with hatred, nor thrust us away, nor remember our iniquity against us, but showed great long-suffering, and bore with us, He Himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities, He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for them that are mortal. For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! that the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors! Having therefore convinced us in the former time that our nature was unable to attain to life, and having now revealed the Saviour who is able to save even those things which it was [formerly] impossible to save, by both these facts He desired to lead us to trust in His kindness, to esteem Him our Nourisher, Father, Teacher, Counsellor, Healer, our Wisdom, Light, Honour, Glory, Power, and Life, so that we should not be anxious concerning clothing and food..” (emphasis mine)
Mathetes, Epistle to Diognetus 9
[http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-01/anf01-08.htm#P708_130188]

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Historical note - The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus (Greek: Πρὸς Διόγνητον Ἐπιστολή) is probably the earliest example of Christian apologetics, writings defending Christianity from its accusers. The Greek writer and recipient are not otherwise known, but the language and other textual evidence dates the work to the late 2nd century; some assume an even earlier date and count it among the Apostolic Fathers.

Some Patristic Quotes Pertaining to the Filioque

2011-02-08T22:04:00.001-08:00

“And there is One Holy Spirit, having His subsistence from God, and being made manifest by the Son, to wit to men: Image of the Son, Perfect Image of the Perfect; Life, the Cause of the living; Holy Fount; Sanctity, the Supplier, or Leader, of Sanctification; in whom is manifested God the Father, who is above all and in all, and God the Son, who is through all.”
Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Declaration of Faith
[http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-06/anf06-06.htm#P248_29577]

“Concerning the Holy Spirit I ought not to be silent, and yet I have no need to speak; still, for the sake of those who are in ignorance, I cannot refrain. There is no need to speak, because we are bound to confess Him, proceeding, as He does, from Father and Son.”
Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity 2.29
[http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-09/Npnf2-09-09.htm#P1012_627785]

“We are all spiritual if the Spirit of God dwells in us. But this Spirit of God is also the Spirit of Christ, and though the Spirit of Christ is in us, yet His Spirit is also in us Who raised Christ from the dead, and He Who raised Christ from the dead shall quicken our mortal bodies also on account of His Spirit that dwelleth in us.”
Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity 8.21
[http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-09/Npnf2-09-15.htm#P1599_1051234]

“As in the revelation that Thy Only-begotten was born of Thee before times eternal, when we cease to struggle with ambiguities of language and difficulties of thought, the one certainty of His birth remains; so I hold fast in my consciousness the truth that Thy Holy Spirit is from Thee and through Him, although I cannot by my intellect comprehend it.”
Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity 12.56
[http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-09/Npnf2-09-19.htm#P2295_1462882]

“And yet it is not to no purpose that in this Trinity the Son and none other is called the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit and none other the Gift of God, and God the Father alone is He from whom the Word is born, and from whom the Holy Spirit principally proceeds. And therefore I have added the word principally, because we find that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son also.”
Augustine, On the Trinity 15.17.29
[http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF1-03/npnf1-03-21.htm#P2022_1027363]

“For when, among other things, I had taught them by testimonies of the Holy Scriptures that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both, I continue: “If, then, the Holy Spirit proceeds both from the Father and from the Son, why did the Son say, ‘He proceedeth from the Father?’ “Why, think you, except as He is wont to refer to Him, that also which is His own, from whom also He Himself is? Whence also is that which He saith, “My doctrine is not mine own, but His that sent me?” If, therefore, it is His doctrine that is here understood, which yet He said was not His own, but His that sent Him, how much more is it there to be understood that the Holy Spirit proceeds also from Himself, where He so says, He proceedeth from the Father, as not to say, He proceedeth not from me? From Him, certainly, from whom the Son had his Divine nature, for He is God of God, He has also, that from Him too proceeds the Holy Spirit; and hence the Holy Spirit has from the Father Himself, that He should proceed from the Son also, as He proceeds from the Father.”
Augustine, On the Trinity 15.27.48
[http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF1-03/npnf1-03-21.htm#P2140_1081404]

“And while in the property of each Person the Father is one, the Son is another, and the Holy Ghost is another, yet the Godhead is not distinct and different; for whilst the Son is the Only begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and the Son, not in the way that every creature is the creature of the Father and the Son, but as living and having power with Both, and eternally subsisting of That Which is the Father and the Son.”
Pope Leo I, Sermons of Leo I, Sermon 75.3
[http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-12/Npnf2-12-211.htm#P3971_1013308]

--+--

Historical note - "Filioque, Latin for "and the Son", was added in 589 to the Catholic Church's Nicene Creed. This creed, foundational to Christian belief since the 4th century, defines the three persons of the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In its original Greek form, the creed says that the Holy Spirit proceeds "from the Father". The Latin text speaks of the Holy Spirit as proceeding "from the Father and the Son" "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filioque].

There is no dispute at present between Lutherans and Rome on the filioque; this matter is disputed by the Eastern Orthodox, who protest that the filioque was inserted into the Creed in the West without ecumenical consent. The filioque has been the subject of much discussion between Rome and the Orthodox in recent years.

Pope Gelasius: The Consecrated Sacramental Elements Remain Bread and Wine

2011-02-07T21:48:00.000-08:00

"The sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, which we receive, is a divine thing, because by it we are made partakers of the divine-nature. Yet the substance or nature of the bread and wine does not cease" [... "et tamen esse non desinit substantia vel natura panis et vini].
Pope Gelasius (+496) De duabus naturis in Christo Adv. Eutychen et Nestorium (in the Bibl. Max. Patrum, tom. viii. p. 703)

Cf The Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, VII, 37:

...in the Holy Supper the two substances, the natural bread and the true natural body of Christ, are present together here upon earth in the appointed administration of the Sacrament.

Historical note:

"Gelasius' election on March 1, 492 was a gesture for continuity: Gelasius inherited Felix's struggles with Eastern Roman Emperor Anastasius I and the patriarch of Constantinople and exacerbated them by insisting on the removal of the name of the late Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople, from the diptychs, in spite of every ecumenical gesture by the current, otherwise quite orthodox patriarch Euphemius (q.v. for details of the Acacian schism).

The split with the emperor and the patriarch of Constantinople was inevitable, from the western point of view, because they had embraced a view of a single, Divine ('Monophysite') nature of Christ, which was a Christian heresy. Gelasius' book De duabus in Christo naturis ('On the dual nature of Christ') delineated the Western view. Thus Gelasius, for all the conservative Latinity of his writing style stood on the cusp of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gelasius_I)

Augustine on the Bondage of the Will

2011-02-07T13:14:00.000-08:00

Can we possibly, without utter absurdity, maintain that there first existed in anyone the good virtue of a good will, to entitle him to the removal of his heart of stone? How can we say this, when all the time this heart of stone itself signifies precisely a will of the hardest kind, a will that is absolutely inflexible against God? For if a good will comes first, there is obviously no longer a heart of stone.’
Augustine, On Grace and Free Will, 29

Quotes from Leo the Great Indirectly Pertaining to the Immaculate Conception of Mary

2011-01-31T22:11:00.000-08:00

"There is for all one common measure of joy, because as our Lord the destroyer of sin and death finds none free from charge, so is He come to free us all."

"Truly foreign to this nativity is that which we read of all others, "no one is clean from stain, not even the infant who has lived but one day upon earth." [Job 14:4-5, Septuagint] Nothing therefore of the lust of the flesh has passed into that peerless nativity, nothing of the law of sin has entered."
First Sermon on Nativity (Sermon 21), Chapter 1

"And to this end, without male seed Christ was conceived of a Virgin, who was fecundated not by human intercourse but by the Holy Spirit. And whereas in all mothers conception does not take place without stain of sin, this one received purification from the Source of her conception."
Second Sermon on the Nativity (Sermon 22), Chapter 3.

"... when by the condition of birth, there is one cause of perishing for all. And so among the sons of men, the Lord Jesus alone was born innocent, since he alone was conceived without the pollution of carnal concupiscence."
Fifth sermon on the Nativity (Sermon 25), Chapter 5.

[Note - In all instances, the italics are mine.]

--+--

Four points to note here:

1. Clearly Leo believes that among human beings only Christ has been born innocent, i.e. without the stain of original sin.

2. Leo links the purification of the Virgin Mary from the stain of sin (i.e. the 'pollution of concupiscence' - see below #4) during the birth of Christ to the immaculate conception of Christ, not her own supposedly immaculate conception, of which he seems to know nothing.

3. Leo he also seems to be a 'traducianist' rather than a 'creationist' when it comes to the origin of souls and the transmission of original sin. Lutheran theology allows for both opinions, although traducianism seems to be favoured by the greater number of orthodox theologians.

4. Leo regards the pollution of carnal concupiscence as sin, contrary to the later decision by the Council of Trent, contrary to the teaching of scripture, that concupiscence was only the 'fuel' or 'tinder' of sin (* see scripture references below).

Pope Leo I or Leo the Great (ca. 400 – November 10, 461) was pope from September 29, 440 to his death. He was an Italian aristocrat, and is the first pope of the Catholic Church to have been called "the Great". He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452, persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy. He is also a doctor of the Church.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_I)

Quotations taken from Jean de Launoy, Joannis Launoii Opera omnia, Volume 1, Part 1, available on-line here: http://books.google.com/books?id=pZ8-AAAAcAAJ&dq=editions%3ABCUL1092554631&pg=PA17#v=onepage&q&f=false
[Jean de Launoy (Joannes Launoius) (1603–1678) was a French historian. Known as "le denicheur des saints", he was a critical historiographer. He was on the sceptical side over the supposed papal bull Sacratissimo uti culmine. In papal politics he was a Gallican, in theology a Jansenist.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_de_Launoy)

* "Concupiscence" is the English translation of the Koine Greek epithumia (ἐπιθυμία). Epithumia occurs 38 times in the New Testament: Mark 4:19, Luke 22:15, John 8:44, Romans 1:24, Romans 6:12, Romans 7:7,8, Romans 13:14, Galatians 5:16,24, Ephesians 2:3, Ephesians 4:22, Philippians 1:23, Colossians 3:5, 1 Thessalonians 2:17, 1 Thessalonians 4:5, 1 Timothy 6:9, 2 Timothy 2:22, 2 Timothy 3:6, 2 Timothy 4:3, Titus 2:12, Titus 3:3, James 1:14,15, 1 Peter 1:14, 1 Peter 2:11, 1 Peter 4:2,3, 2 Peter 1:4, 2 Peter 2:10,18, 2 Peter 3:3, 1 John 2:16,17, Jude 1:16,18, Revelation 18:14. The word "epithumia" is variously translated: desire, longing, lust, passion, covetousness, impulses, concupiscence.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concupiscence]

Augustine on Scripture as the Rule of Faith

2011-01-25T21:39:00.000-08:00

You ought to notice particularly and store in your memory that God wanted to lay a firm foundation in the Scriptures against treacherous errors, a foundation against which no-one dares to speak who would in any way be considered a Christian. For when he offered Himself to them to touch, this did not suffice Him unless He also confirmed the heart of the believers from the Scriptures, for He foresaw that the time would come when we would not have anything to touch but would have something to read.

Augustine, In epistolam Johannis tractus 2. NPNF Series 1, VII:469.

Aquinas: Scripture is the Measure of Faith

2011-01-20T03:36:00.000-08:00

"It should be noted that though many might write concerning Catholic truth, there is this difference: that those who wrote the canonical Scripture, the Evangelists and Apostles, and others of this kind, so constantly assert it that they leave no room for doubt. That is his meaning when he says ‘we know his testimony is true.’ Galatians 1:9, “If anyone preach a gospel to you other than that which you have received, let him be anathema!” The reason is that only canonical Scripture is a measure of faith. Others, however, so wrote of the truth that they should not be believed save insofar as they say true things."

Thomas Aquinas, Lectures on the Gospel of John, ed. P. Raphaelis Cai, O.P., Editio V revisa (Romae: Marietti Editori Ltd., 1952) n. 2656, p. 488.

--+--
It would be anachronistic to label Aquinas a Lutheran, but by the same token, it certainly seems anachronistic to call him a Roman Catholic, if this was his view of . Thomas is clear: only canonical scripture is a measure of faith, and all other writers are to be believed only if they agree with scripture.

Aquinas on Scripture, Doctrine and Conscience

2011-01-17T00:25:00.000-08:00

"The precepts of the Law, which man is bound to fulfil, concern acts of virtue which are the means of attaining salvation. Now an act of virtue, as stated above (Q[60], A[5]) depends on the relation of the habit to its object. Again two things may be considered in the object of any virtue; namely, that which is the proper and direct object of that virtue, and that which is accidental and consequent to the object properly so called. Thus it belongs properly and directly to the object of fortitude, to face the dangers of death, and to charge at the foe with danger to oneself, for the sake of the common good: yet that, in a just war, a man be armed, or strike another with his sword, and so forth, is reduced to the object of fortitude, but indirectly.
Accordingly, just as a virtuous act is required for the fulfilment of a precept, so is it necessary that the virtuous act should terminate in its proper and direct object: but, on the other hand, the fulfilment of the precept does not require that a virtuous act should terminate in those things which have an accidental or secondary relation to the proper and direct object of that virtue, except in certain places and at certain times. We must, therefore, say that the direct object of faith is that whereby man is made one of the Blessed, as stated above (Q[1], A[8]): while the indirect and secondary object comprises all things delivered by God to us in Holy Writ, for instance that Abraham had two sons, that David was the son of Jesse, and so forth.
Therefore, as regards the primary points or articles of faith, man is bound to believe them, just as he is bound to have faith; but as to other points of faith, man is not bound to believe them explicitly, but only implicitly, or to be ready to believe them, in so far as he is prepared to believe whatever is contained in the Divine Scriptures. Then alone is he bound to believe such things explicitly, when it is clear to him that they are contained in the doctrine of faith"

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 2 of Part 2, Q.1, A. 9 [italics mine]

Mark the Ascetic on those who think they are made righteous by works.

2011-01-03T22:18:00.000-08:00

Christ is Master because of His own essence and incarnate life. For He creates man from nothing, and through His own blood redeems him when dead in sin; and to those who believe in Him He has given His grace. When Scripture says, ‘He will reward each according to what he has done’ [Matthew 16:27], don’t imagine that works in themselves merit either hell or the kingdom. No, Christ rewards everyone according to whether his works are done with faith or without faith in Him. For He is not a dealer bound by contract but our Creator and Redeemer.

Mark the Ascetic c. 425
“On those who think that they are made righteous by works”

Mark the Ascetic was a 5th century desert father, reputedly a disiciple of John Chrysostom, whose writings feature prominently in The Philokalia. Among these writings are some of the most sublime and evangelical (i.e. Gospel-oriented) insights to be found in the writings of the Fathers.

Basil the Great on the 'Semper Virgo' of the Theotokos

2011-01-01T01:29:00.000-08:00

“We must not debate inquisitively about this subject – whether after she had given birth to the Saviour Mary again contracted a marriage or, on the other hand, remained a virgin – because this has no application to the mystery of faith.”

Basil the Great, “Sermon on the Nativity of Christ,”

Quoted in John Gerhard, Theological Commonplaces, “On the Nature of Theology and Scripture,” 18, 8.

Peter of Damascus on the Clarity and Authority of Scripture

2010-12-21T15:25:00.000-08:00

“Whenever a person even slightly illumined reads the scriptures or sings psalms he finds in them matter for contemplation and theology, one text supporting another. But he whose intellect is still unenlightened thinks that the Holy Scriptures are contradictory. Yet there is no contradiction in the Holy Scriptures: God forbid that there should be. For some texts are confirmed by others, while some were written in reference to a particular time or a particular person. Thus, every word of scripture is beyond reproach. The appearance of contradiction is due to our ignorance. We ought not to find fault with the scriptures, but to the limit of our capacity we should attend to them as they are, and not as we would like them to be, after the manner of the Greeks and Jews.

…The person who searches for the meaning of the scriptures will not put forward his own opinion, bad or good; but as St Basil the Great and St John Chrysostom have said, he will take as his teacher, not the learning of this world, but Holy Scripture itself. Then, if his heart is pure and God puts something unpremeditated into it, he will accept it, providing he can find confirmation for it in the scriptures, as St Antony the Great says.“

Peter of Damascus, from The Treasury of Divine Knowledge, in The Philokalia, Vol. 3 of The Complete Text, compiled by St Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and St Makarios of Corinth, translated from the Greek and edited by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard and Kallistos Ware, p.144 (Faber and Faber, London 1984).

Our Peter is not to be confused with the more well-known Peter of Damascus who was bishop of that city at the time of the Islamic conquest in the 8th century, but is rather one who lived in the 12th century; however, like his earlier namesake, he became bishop of Damascus and was martyred by the Muslims. The second Peter of Damascus was a spiritual theologian of the hesychast school of Eastern Orthodoxy, and as such his voluminous writing The Treasury of Divine Knowledge is included in its entirety in The Philokalia, an anthology of hesychast writings first published, oddly, in Venice in the 18th century.

But what concerns us here is not Peter’s hesychasm, but his high regard for the authority of scripture, which he traces back to several of the greatest Fathers of the Greek church, and his suggestions on hermeneutics, which assume the clarity of scripture, properly defined, and the usefulness of the analogy of scripture and interpreting in context. In this he shows himself a disciple of the ancient Antiochian school of Biblical interpretation, which pre-figured many aspects of Reformation hermeneutics. With not a little irony, then, we must say that it is a pity Peter did not more consistently apply his hermeneutic to his hesychasm, which bears the impress of neo-Platonism. Perhaps we can say in his defence that, like him, we all have our blindspots, which are often related to the worldview of our particular time and place.

Basil the Great on the Authority of Scripture

2010-12-20T22:29:00.000-08:00

What is the mark of a faithful soul? To be in these dispositions of full acceptance on the authority of the words of Scripture, not venturing to reject anything nor making additions. For, if ‘all that is not of faith is sin’ as the Apostle says, and ‘faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,’ everything outside Holy Scripture, not being of faith, is sin.
Basil the Great (c. 330-379), Moralia.

Peter Lombard on Baptism

2010-12-13T21:11:00.000-08:00

The sacrament of baptism consists in two things, namely, in the Word and the element. Therefore, even if other things are lacking which have been instituted for the adornment of the sacrament, it is not for that reason less a true sacrament and holy, if the Word is there, and the element...

Peter Lombard (1100-1160),The Four Books of Sentences, Book 4,Distinction 3.

Chemnitz uses Lombard to support his argument that there is a distinction to be made between what has been instituted by God and the pious, unwritten traditions of men (Examnination of the Council of Trent, I, II Concerning Traditions, Section VIII.

Cf.

Augustine on Scripture as Judge in Controversies

2010-12-06T17:28:00.000-08:00

Let us not hear: This I say, this you say; but, thus says the Lord. Surely it is the books of the Lord on whose authority we both agree and which we both believe. There let us seek the church, there let us discuss our case.
Augustine, The Unity of the Church, cited by Martin Chemnitz in Examination of the Counil of Trent, I:157

Let those things be removed from our midst which we quote against one another not from divine canonical books but from elsewhere. Someone may perhaps ask: Why do you want to remove these things from our midst? Because I do not want the holy church proved by human documents but by divine oracles.
Augustine, The Unity of the Church, cited by Martin Chemnitz in Examination of the Counil of Trent, I:157

Whatever they may adduce, and wherever they may quote from, let us rather, if we are His sheep, hear the voice of our Shepherd. Therefore let us search for the church in the sacred canonical scriptures.
Augustine, The Unity of the Church, cited by Martin Chemnitz in Examination of the Counil of Trent, I:157

Basil the Great on the Authority of Scripture

2010-11-28T17:32:00.000-08:00

I do not consider it fair that the custom which obtains among them should be regarded as a law and rule of orthodoxy. If custom be taken in proof of what is right, then it is certainly competent for me to put forward on my side the custom which obtains here. If they reject this, we are clearly not bound to follow them. Therefore let God-inspired Scripture decide between us; and on whichever side be found doctrines in harmony with the word of God, in favour of that side will be cast the vote of truth.

Basil the Great (330 - 379), Letter to Eustathius the Physician, written circa 374-375; NPNF Series II, Vol. VIII:229.

This letter to Eustathius the Physician was written in the midst of Basil's conflict with another Eustathius, Eustathius of Sebaste, a bishop with Arian sympathies.

This is an interesting quotation for several reasons. Firstly, Basil clearly appeals to scripture, and not custom, as the judge in this doctrinal dispute - note well, then, that Basil must therefore have had confidence in scripture's clarity and ability to function as a judge. Secondly, he alludes to "the vote of truth" being cast; this is possibly just a figure of speech, referring to Basil's confidence that his position will be vindicated in the judgment of the Christian public because it is based on scripture, but it could also refer to the hope that a synod would resolve the dispute. And thirdly, it is particularly interesting that Basil here appears to contradict a famous passage from his On the Holy Spirit which is often quoted in support of unwritten tradition as a source of doctrine and practice. Thus there is either an inconsistency in Basil's thought, or he has been misunderstood; this is a question I hope to explore more fully in the future.

What was the question under dispute? Basil writes: "Two points are advanced at one and the same time in the accusations levelled against me. I am accused on the one hand of parting the hypostases asunder; on the other of never using in the plural any one of the nouns relating to the Divinity, but of always speaking in the singular number of one Goodness, as I have already said; of one Power; one Godhead; and so on."

Basil follows with an exposition of pertinent scripture passages.

Pseudo-Chrysostom on Civil Righteousness and Righteousness Before God

2010-11-24T14:42:00.000-08:00

You shall find many which have not the true faith, and be not of the flock of Christ, and yet (as it appears) they flourish in good works of mercy: you shall find them full of pity, compassion, and given to justice. And yet for all that they have no fruit of their works, because they lack the chief work. For when the Jews asked Christ what they should do to work good works, he answered, "This is the work of God, to beleive in him whom he sent" (John 6.29). So, Christ called faith the work of God.
Pseudo-Chrysostom, De Fide et Lege Naturae 1 [PG 48. 1081-82], as quoted in the Anglican Book of Homilies, Homily on Good Works.

Martin Chemnitz on Why the Fathers Often Erred on the Doctrine of Justification

2010-11-23T02:08:00.000-08:00

"...because they saw that when the gratuitous
reception to eternal life is preached among profane men
a great sense of security follows, neglect of good works,
and the dissolution of a person's whole life is brought
about. Therefore, in order to restrain this sense of
security, they kindled and urged an ardent and
efficacious (so it seemed to them) zeal for good works
and often bent the article of justification toward works
and merits, burying Christ and his benefits.

Martin Chemnitz (1522-1586), Loci Theologici, De Loco Iustificationis, 225a

Anslem of Canterbury Counsels A Dying Man On the Basis of Justification by Faith Alone through Christ Alone

2010-11-15T15:53:00.000-08:00

Qu Dost thou believe that the Lord Jesus died for thee? Answer. I believe it.

Qu. Dost thou thank him for his passion and death? Ans. I do thank him.

Qu. Dost thou believe that thou canst not be saved except by his death? Ans. I believe it”

“Come then, while life remaineth in thee: in his death alone place thy whole trust; in naught else place any trust; to his death commit thyself wholly, with this alone cover thyself wholly; and if the Lord thy God will to judge thee, say, ‘Lord, between thy judgment and me I present the death of our Lord Jesus Christ; no otherwise can I contend with thee.’ And if he shall say that thou art a sinner, say thou: ‘Lord, I interpose the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between my sins and thee. ‘If he say that thou hast deserved condemnation, say: ‘Lord, I set the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between my evil deserts and thee, and his merits I offer for those which I ought to have and have not.’ If he say that he is wroth with thee, say: ‘Lord, I oppose the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between thy wrath and me. ‘And when thou hast completed this, say again: ‘Lord, I set the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between thee and me.’

Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109), Opera (Migne), 1:686, 687.

Chrysostom on How the Thief on the Cross was Justified by Faith Alone, and Not Faith Plus Works

2010-11-09T04:20:00.000-08:00

Let us see, however, whether the brigand gave evidence of effort and upright deeds and a good yield. Far from his being able to claim even this, he made his way into paradise before the apostles with a mere word, on the basis of faith alone, the intention being for you to learn that it was not so much a case of his sound values prevailing as the Lord's lovingkindness being completely responsible.

What, in fact, did the brigand say? What did he do? Did he fast? Did he weep? Did he tear his garments? Did he display repentance in good time? Not at all: on the cross itself after his utterance he won salvation. Note the rapidity: from cross to heaven, from condemnation to salvation. What were those wonderful words, then? What great power did they have that they brought him such marvelous good things? "Remember me in your kingdom." What sort of word is that? He asked to receive good things, he showed no concern for them in action; but the one who knew his heart paid attention not to the words but to the attitude of mind.

John Chrysostom, Sermon 7 on Genesis, in St. John Chrysostom, Eight Sermons on the Book of Genesis, pp. 123-24 (2004), Robert C. Hill translator.

The Council of Orange on How God Justifies the Ungodly Through Faith

2010-11-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

If anyone says that not only the increase of faith but also its beginning and the very desire for faith, by which we believe in Him who justifies the ungodly and comes to the regeneration of holy baptism -- if anyone says that this belongs to us by nature and not by a gift of grace, that is, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit amending our will and turning it from unbelief to faith and from godlessness to godliness, it is proof that he is opposed to the teaching of the Apostles, for blessed Paul says, "And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6). And again, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8). For those who state that the faith by which we believe in God is natural make all who are separated from the Church of Christ by definition in some measure believers.

Canon V, The Council of Orange, 529AD

The Council of Orange (actually the second synod to be held there) resolved the controversy between Augustinianism and ascetic semi-Pelagianism by asserting a modified Augustinianism over against the teaching of Pelagius and semi-Pelagians such as the monk John Cassian. The Council's Canons were approved by Pope Boniface II a year later. The continuing rise of monasticism in the Western church, however, seemed to render the decisions of Orange moot, at least on the practical level of monastic piety, which increasingly shaped the ethos of Western Christianity as a whole.

Gregory of Nyssa on Scripture As Rule and Measure of Every Tenet

2010-10-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

We are not entitled to such licence, I mean that of affirming what we please; we make the Holy Scriptures the rule and the measure of every tenet; we necessarily fix our eyes upon that, and approve that alone which may be made to harmonize with the intention of those writings.

Gregory of Nyssa, On the Soul and the Resurrection.

The quote occurs in the context of a discussion about Gentile philosophy (i.e. Platonism) and dialectic regarding the soul, and the need for human reason to be guided by scripture, which is the rule of what is to be believed.

The Epistle to Diognetus on the "Happy Exchange" Which Justifies the Ungodly

2010-10-18T22:31:00.000-07:00

"...when our iniquity had been fully accomplished, and it had been made perfectly manifest that punishment and death were expected as its recompense, and the season came which God had ordained, when henceforth He should manifest His goodness and power (O the exceeding great kindness and love of God), He hated us not, neither rejected us, nor bore us malice, but was long-suffering and patient, and in pity for us took upon Himself our sins, and Himself parted with His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy for the lawless, the guileless for the evil, the just for the unjust, the incorruptible for the corruptible, the immortal for the mortal.

For what else but His righteousness would have covered our sins?
In whom was it possible for us, the lawless and ungodly, to be justified, except in the Son of God alone? O sweet exchange, O the incomprehensible work of God, O the unexpected blessing, that the sinfulness of many should be hidden in one righteous man, while the righteousness of one should justify many sinners!"

The Epistle to Diognetus 9.4-5
(Trans. by J.B. Lightfoot, 1891; full trans. available on-line here: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/diognetus-lightfoot.html)

In Lutheran theology, the justification of the ungodly through the death of the righteous Son of God incarnate is often termed "the happy exchange"; the sins of the ungodly and the punishment they deserve have been placed on Christ on the Cross, and in exchange the righteousness of Christ's perfect life is imputed to the forgiven sinner. The unknown author of the Epistle to Diognetus, usually regarded as a member of a Johannine community, nevertheless picks up on this Pauline theme in his letter, an early apologetic work, most likely from the end of the 2nd century.

Gregory of Nyssa on the Primacy and Authority of Scripture

2010-10-03T22:18:00.001-07:00

"If custom is to avail for proof of soundness, we too, surely, may advance our prevailing custom; and if they reject this, we are surely not bound to follow theirs. Let the inspired Scripture, then, be our umpire, and the vote of truth will surely be given to those whose dogmas are found to agree with the Divine words."
Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-c.394), On the Holy Trinity
Gregory was present at the 1st Council of Constantinople in 381AD, where Arianism was decisively condemned and the Nicene Creed was affirmed with an expanded clause on the Holy Spirit. This quote then provides an important insight into how he saw doctrinal authority working in the church.

The cited passage occurs early in the treatise, in the opening discussion of the matters under dispute concerning the Holy Tinity. The passage is notable for two reasons: a) inspired scripture is to be the umpire or arbiter of doctrinal disputes; and b) mention of the "vote of truth", which would seem to refer to the vote of synod or council delegates on a doctrinal matter under dispute.

One could deduce from this the following chain of doctrinal authority in the church: 1. Scripture is the primary doctrinal authority and judge in the church. 2. Synods or councils may be called to vote on matters in dispute on the basis of scripture's teaching; this is how the doctrinal authority of scripture is exercised. Not that doctrine itself is subject to a vote, but rather the synod or council, having discerned scripture's teaching, rejects the false teaching - the vote is on whose dogma agrees with scripture. This is consistent with the later Lutheran view of how the representative church (the church in synod) exercises its authority under scripture,as developed by theologians such as David Hollaz (see his Examen Theologicum Acroamaticum of 1707, in which, like Aquinas before him, he summarises and synthesises the teachings of previous dogmaticians).

Of course, synods and councils can err, and have done so in both doctrinal and administrative matters - even Gregory was deposed by a council once. This is not because scripture can err, or is not qualified to be the judge of dogma and doctrine, but because men may err and fail to interpret scripture properly, or they may even rebel against the teaching of scripture.

Finally, we must believe, because Jesus is Lord of the church, then the truth taught by scripture will prevail, even if at times that belief may seem to call for supernatural faith!

Chrysostom on the Primacy of Scripture

2010-09-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

"Regarding the things I say, I should supply the proofs, so I will not seem to rely on my own opinions, but rather, prove them with Scripture, so that the matter will remain certain and steadfast."
John Chrysostom, Homily 8, On Repentance and the Church.

Cf Luther, writing in The Babylonian Captivity of the Church: "...what is asserted without the scriptures or proven revelation may be held as an opinion, but need not be believed."

Irenaeus on the Clarity of Scripture

2010-08-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

"A sound mind, and one which does not expose its possessor to danger, and is devoted to piety and the love of truth, will eagerly meditate upon those things which God has placed within the power of mankind, and has subjected to our knowledge, and will make advancement in [acquaintance with] them, rendering the knowledge of them easy to him by means of daily study. These things are such as fall [plainly] under our observation, and are clearly and unambiguously in express terms set forth in the Sacred Scriptures."

Irenaeus (c.130-200), Against Heresies, Book II, ch XXVII, para 1. (p. 398 in ANF ed. by Donaldson & Robertson).

Given the proximity in time of Irenaeus to the apostles (one generation removed from the apostle John via Polycarp), we are reasonably entitled to assume that this teaching on the clarity of scripture was passed on to the early church by the apostles (compare Irenaeus's teaching with that of Chrysostom posted here earlier). Indeed, a complete trust in the power of the Word to enlighten to salvation was a hallmark of our Lord's teaching ministry: "It is written...", "Have you not read...?".
By logical deduction, if all things necessary for our salvation are "clearly and unambiguously in express terms set forth in scripture", then the scriptural revelation of the way of salvation through faith in Christ is sufficient to that purpose.
Note also that implicit in Irenaeus's understanding of scripture's clarity is the testimony of the Spirit ("a sound mind...devoted to piety and the love of truth") which inspires ongoing study of the Word. This is in accord with the later insights of the magisterial Reformation's theologians into the inseparable link between Word and Spirit which guarantees that the former is "living and active". It is this guarantee that assures us that the ongoing study of the Word which Irenaeus recommends will make us "wise to salvation".

Irenaeus on the Perfection of Scripture

2010-08-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

"If, however, we cannot discover explanations of all those things in Scripture which are made the subject of investigation, yet let us not on that account seek after any other God besides Him who really exists. For this is the very greatest impiety. We should leave things of that nature to God who created us, being most properly assured that the Scriptures are indeed perfect, since they were spoken by the Word of God and His Spirit; but we, inasmuch as we are inferior to, and later in existence than, the Word of God and His Spirit, are on that very account destitute of the knowledge of His mysteries..."

Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book II, ch. 28 (p.399 in ANF ed. by Robertson & Donaldson)

Irenaues is writing against Gnosticism, in particular the Valentinians, whose theology went beyond the revelation God had provided in the holy scriptures. Thus Valentine postulated, as far as can be discerned from Irenaeus‘s writings, that the God of the Old Testament was an imperfect Demiurge and that above him was an eternal Father who could be accessed by the initiated with ’secret knowledge’ (gnosis). The Gnostics looked down upon Christians as simple, uneducated people. Irenaeus here asserts that the scriptures are perfect and therefore trustworthy since they have God as their primary author. Mutatis mutandis, the same principle was used by Reformation theologians to counter the extra-scriptural claims of both Rome and the Enthusiasts.

It should be noted that Irenaeus (c. 130-200) was a disciple of Polycarp (c. 69-156), who in turn sat at the feet of the holy apostle John.

Chrysostom on the Clarity of Scripture

2010-08-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

"What do I come in for, you say, if I do not hear some one discoursing? This is the ruin and destruction of all. For what need of a person to discourse? This necessity arises from our sloth. Wherefore any necessity for a homily? All things are clear and open that are in the divine Scriptures; the necessary things are all plain. But because ye are hearers for pleasure’s sake, for that reason also you seek these things. For tell me, with what pomp of words did Paul speak? and yet he converted the world. Or with what the unlettered Peter? But I know not, you say, the things that are contained in the Scriptures. Why? For are they spoken in Hebrew? Are they in Latin, or in foreign tongues? Are they not in Greek? But they are expressed obscurely, you say: What is it that is obscure? Tell me. Are there not histories? For (of course) you know the plain parts, in that you enquire about the obscure. There are numberless histories in the Scriptures. Tell me one of these. But you cannot. These things are an excuse, and mere words."
From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (ed. Schaff), Series 1, Vol XIII, Sermons of St Chrysostom on Galatians, Ephesians etc., Sermon III on 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10, para 388.

The language is rather archaic but the meaning is clear enough; in a rhetorical dialogue with his hearers, whom he suspects of coming to hear him preach merely 'for pleasure', the 'Golden Mouthed' preacher of the ancient church chastises them for their slothfulness in applying themselves to the study of holy scripture, whence arises the need for discourses or homilies in the first place. These should not be necessary, Chrysostom suggests, since "all things are clear and open that are in the divine scriptures; the necessary things are all plain".

Augustine on the Law and the Spirit

2010-07-26T04:34:00.000-07:00

'It is evident, then, that the oldness of the letter, in the absence of the newness of the spirit, instead of freeing us from sin, rather makes us guilty by the knowledge of sin. Whence it is written in another part of Scripture, “He that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow,”—not that the law is itself evil, but because the commandment has its good in the demonstration of the letter, not in the assistance of the spirit; and if this commandment is kept from the fear of punishment and not from the love of righteousness, it is servilely kept, not freely, and therefore it is not kept at all. For no fruit is good which does not grow from the root of love. If, however, that faith be present which worketh by love, then one begins to delight in the law of God after the inward man, and this delight is the gift of the spirit, not of the letter; even though there is another law in our members still warring against the law of the mind, until the old state is changed, and passes into that newness which increases from day to day in the inward man, whilst the grace of God is liberating us from the body of this death through Jesus Christ our Lord.'

Augustine, Of the Spirit and the Letter, ch 14.

Note - Luther's relation to Augustine is complex, and far beyond the means of a blog post to delineate, but I think we can see in this quotation many seeds which would come to fruition in Luther's theology.

Augustine on Scripture as the Rule of Faith

2010-07-19T22:43:00.000-07:00

What more should I teach you than what we read in the Apostle? For holy Scripture establishes the rule of our doctrine, lest we dare be wiser than we ought...Therefore, I should not teach you anything else except to expound to you the words of the Teacher.
Augustine of Hippo, De bono viduitatis, in Migne, Patrologia Latina 40:431, italics mine.

Let those things be removed from our midst which we quote against each other not from divine canonical books but from elsewhere. Someone may perhaps ask: Why do you want to remove these things from our midst? Because I do not want the holy church proved by human documents but by divine oracles.
From De unitate ecclesiae, cited by Martin Chemnitz in Examination of the Council of Trent, 1:157.

One dare not agree with Catholic bishops if they happen to err in any matter with the result that their opinion is against the canonical Scriptures of God.
Cited in Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, 1:159.

If anyone preaches either concerning Christ or the church, or concerning any other matter which pertains to our faith and life, I will say nothing but what Paul says: if an angel from heaven should preach to you anything besides what you have received in the Scriptures of the Law and the Gospels, let him be anathema.
Contra litteras Petiliani, in Migne, Patrologia Latina, 43:351.

Irenaeus's Rule of Faith in Judging & Opposing Heresies

2010-07-12T23:12:00.000-07:00

Athanasius on Scripture

2010-07-03T00:52:00.000-07:00

"The holy and inspired Scriptures are fully sufficient for the proclamation of the truth". Athanasius (Against the Heathen, 1:3)

"Now one might write at great length concerning these things, if one desired to go into details respecting them; for the impiety and perversity of heresies will appear to be manifold and various, and the craft of the deceivers to be very terrible. But since holy Scripture is of all things most sufficient for us, therefore recommending to those who desire to know more of these matters, to read the Divine word, I now hasten to set before you that which most claims attention, and for the sake of which principally I have written these things." Athanasius (To the Bishops of Egypt, Ch 1:4)

"Vainly then do they run about with the pretext that they have demanded Councils for the faith's sake; for divine Scripture is sufficient above all things; but if a Council be needed on the point, there are the proceedings of the Fathers, for the Nicene Bishops did not neglect this matter, but stated the doctrine so exactly, that persons reading their words honestly, cannot but be reminded by them of the religion towards Christ, announced in divine Scripture" Athanasius (On The Synodis, 1:6)

Ambrosiaster on Justification Through Faith Alone

2010-05-27T17:12:00.000-07:00

"God has decreed that a person who believes in Christ can be saved without works. By faith alone he receives the forgiveness of sins."
Ambrosiaster, commenting on 1 Corinthians 1:4b, in 'Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture', New Testament VII: 1-2 Corinthians, ed. by Gerald Bray (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 6.

"They are justified freely because they have not done anything nor given anything in return, but by faith alone they have been made holy by the gift of God."
Ambrosiaster, on Romans 3:24, 'Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament VI: Romans' ed. Gerald Bray, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p. 101.

'Ambrosiaster' is the name traditionally given to the unknown writer of a commentary on Paul's letters which for a long time was attributed to Ambrose of Milan. Scholars consider that the work was produced in the late 4th century and pre-dates Augustine's (mis)interpretation of Paul based on Jerome's Latin New Testament. It is thus an important testimony to how Paul was understood before Augustine, who famously knew no Greek, mistook 'justification' in Paul to mean 'make righteous', a misinterpretation which is the fountainhead of Rome's subsequent misunderstanding of justification, which makes works of love an inherent part of the 'process' by which a Christian is justified before God. Thus I submit him here as further testimony to the 'scarlet thread' of the evangel which can be traced through the vicissitudes of early and medieval Catholic history until it comes brilliantly to light in the evangelical catholicity of the Lutheran Reformation.

(See the current post on 'Glosses From An Old Manse' (link to the right) for further reflections.)

-- + --

Augustine on Matthew 16:13ff

2010-05-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

Remember, in this man Peter, the rock. He's the one, you see, who on being questioned by the Lord about who the disciples said he was, replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' On hearing this, Jesus said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you...‘You are Peter (rocky), and on this rock I shall build my Church, and the gates of the underworld will not conquer her. To you shall I give the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth shall also be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall also be loosed in heaven’ (Mt 16:15-19). In Peter (rocky), we see our attention drawn to the rock. Now the apostle Paul says about the former people, ‘They drank from the spiritual rock that was following them; but the rock was Christ’ (1 Cor 10:4). So this disciple is called rocky from the rock, like Christian from Christ...Why have I wanted to make this little introduction? In order to suggest to you that in Peter the Church is to be recognized. Christ, you see, built his Church not on a man but on Peter’s confession. What is Peter’s confession? ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ There’s the rock for you, there’s the foundation, there’s where the Church has been built, which the gates of the underworld cannot conquer.

Works of St Augustine, Sermons, Vol. 6, Sermon 229P.1, p. 327. (John Rotelle, Ed., New Rochelle: New City Press, 1993).

Note: For Augustine here, the rock upon which Christ founded the church is not the man Peter but his confession of faith, which is representative of the faith of the church as a whole in Christ. This is in accord with the Lutheran confessions, which state, in the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, the following:

In all these passages Peter is the representative of the entire assembly of apostles [and does not speak for himself alone, but for all the apostles], as appears from the text itself. For Christ asks not Peter alone, but says: Whom do ye say that I am? And what is here said [to Peter alone] in the singular number: I will give unto thee the keys; and whatsoever thou shalt bind, etc., is elsewhere expressed [to their entire number], in the plural Matt. 18:18: Whatsoever ye shall bind, etc. And in John 20:23: Whosesoever sins ye remit, etc. These words testify that the keys are given alike to all the apostles and that all the apostles are alike sent forth [to preach].

In addition to this, it is necessary to acknowledge that the keys belong not to the person of one particular man, but to the Church, as many most clear and firm arguments testify. For Christ, speaking concerning the keys adds, Matt. 18:19: If two or three of you shall agree on earth, etc. Therefore he grants the keys principally and immediately to the Church, just as also for this reason the Church has principally the right of calling. [For just as the promise of the Gospel belongs certainly and immediately to the entire Church, so the keys belong immediately to the entire Church, because the keys are nothing else than the office whereby this promise is communicated to every one who desires it, just as it is actually manifest that the Church has the power to ordain ministers of the Church. And Christ speaks in these words: Whatsoever ye shall bind, etc., and indicates to whom He has given the keys, namely, to the Church: Where two or three are gathered together in My name. Likewise Christ gives supreme and final jurisdiction to the Church, when He says: Tell it unto the Church.]

Therefore it is necessary that in these passages Peter is the representative of the entire assembly of the apostles, and for this reason they do not accord to Peter any prerogative or superiority, or lordship [which he had, or was to have had, in preference to the other apostles].

However, as to the declaration: Upon this rock I will build My Church, certainly the Church has not been built upon the authority of man, but upon the ministry of the confession which Peter made, in which he proclaims that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He accordingly addresses him as a minister: Upon this rock, i.e., upon this ministry. [Therefore he addresses him as a minister of this office in which this confession and doctrine is to be in operation and says: Upon this rock, i.e., this preaching and ministry.]

Furthermore, the ministry of the New Testament is not bound to places and persons as the Levitical ministry, but it is dispersed throughout the whole world, and is there where God gives His gifts, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers; neither does this ministry avail on account of the authority of any person, but on account of the Word given by Christ. [Nor does the person of a teacher add anything to this word and office; it matters not who is preaching and teaching it; if there are hearts who receive and cling to it, to them it is done as they hear and believe.] And in this way, not as referring to the person of Peter, most of the holy Fathers, as Origen, Cyprian, Augustine, 28] Hilary, and Bede, interpret this passage: Upon this rock. Chrysostom says thus: "Upon this rock," not upon Peter. For He built His Church not upon man, but upon the faith of Peter. But what was his faith? "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Hilary says: To Peter the Father revealed that he should say, "Thou art the Son of the living God." Therefore the building of the Church is upon this rock of confession; this faith is the foundation of the Church.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, 22-29.

The influential Roman Catholic theologian Yves Congar acknowledged the lack of patristic support for the official Roman interpretaion of this passage, upon which is based the doctrine of papal primacy, when he wrote, 'It does sometimes happen that some Fathers understood a passage in a way which does not agree with later Church teaching. One example: the interpretation of Peter’s confession in Matthew 16:16–19. Except at Rome, this passage was not applied by the Fathers to the papal primacy; they worked out an exegesis at the level of their own ecclesiological thought, more anthropological and spiritual than juridical.' (Yves Congar, Tradition and Traditions, New York, Macmillan, 1966, p. 398).

Note that Congar, while acknowledging the absence of patristic support fo rthe later papal doctrine, implies that the Fathers had a deficient ecclesiology. What else could a loyal Roman Catholic say when faced with such incontrovertible evidence for the lack of papal primacy in the early church?

Aquinas on the Primacy of Scripture II

2010-05-03T05:44:00.001-07:00

"Sacred Scripture, since it has no science above itself, can dispute with one who denies its principles only if the opponent admits some at least of the truths obtained through divine revelation; thus we can argue with heretics from texts in Holy Writ, and against those who deny one article of faith, we can argue from another. If our opponent believes nothing of divine revelation, there is no longer any means of proving the articles of faith by reasoning, but only of answering his objections---if he has any---against faith. Since faith rests upon infallible truth, and since the contrary of a truth can never be demonstrated, it is clear that the arguments brought against faith cannot be demonstrations, but are difficulties that can be answered."

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, The Nature and Extent of Sacred Doctrine, Q. Whether Sacred Doctrine is a Matter of Argument?

Aquinas makes several important points here, but there are two I wish to underline presently:

1) Note that Aquinas states that there is no 'science', i.e. knowledge, above scripture, and therefore scripture 'can dispute with' heretics, provided they acknowledge at least some of the truths taught in it; presumably he means here that they accept scripture's authority, among other matters. This is very close to the Reformation understanding of scripture as the iudex controversiarum, the judge in doctrinal controversies in the church.

2) Note that Aquinas makes the statement, in his final sentence on the need to answer challenges from unbelievers, that 'faith rests upon infallible truth'. For Aquinas, then, an article of faith can only be established on the basis of an infallible authority, and yet, as we have already noted in the previous post, for Aquinas -- following Augustine -- the only infallible authority is scripture; therefore, we conclude, Aquinas teaches that articles of faith can be established only on the basis of scripture.

Aquinas on the Primacy of Scripture

2010-05-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

This doctrine is especially based upon arguments from authority, inasmuch as its principles are obtained by revelation: thus we ought to believe on the authority of those to whom the revelation has been made. Nor does this take away from the dignity of this doctrine, for although the argument from authority based on human reason is the weakest, yet the argument from authority based on divine revelation is the strongest. But sacred doctrine makes use even of human reason, not, indeed, to prove faith (for thereby the merit of faith would come to an end), but to make clear other things that are put forward in this doctrine. Since therefore grace does not destroy nature but perfects it, natural reason should minister to faith as the natural bent of the will ministers to charity. Hence the Apostle says: "Bringing into captivity every understanding unto the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5). Hence sacred doctrine makes use also of the authority of philosophers in those questions in which they were able to know the truth by natural reason, as Paul quotes a saying of Aratus: "As some also of your own poets said: For we are also His offspring" (Acts 17:28). Nevertheless, sacred doctrine makes use of these authorities as extrinsic and probable arguments; but properly uses the authority of the canonical Scriptures as an incontrovertible proof, and the authority of the doctors of the Church as one that may properly be used, yet merely as probable. For our faith rests upon the revelation made to the apostles and prophets who wrote the canonical books, and not on the revelations (if any such there are) made to other doctors. Hence Augustine says (Epis. ad Hieron. xix, 1): "Only those books of Scripture which are called canonical have I learned to hold in such honor as to believe their authors have not erred in any way in writing them. But other authors I so read as not to deem everything in their works to be true, merely on account of their having so thought and written, whatever may have been their holiness and learning."

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, The Nature and Extent of Sacred Doctrine, Q8. Whether Sacred Doctrine Is A Matter of Argument?

Objection: But in the same work Aquinas teaches many things not found in scripture, such as the sinlessness of the Virgin Mary and the efficacy of prayers to the dead.
Response: This only shows that either a) Aquinas did not consistently apply his own scripture principle, and allowed reason or tradition to establish these other doctrines; or b)that his exegesis in setting forth these other doctrines as scriptural was faulty.

Origen on the Primacy of Scripture

2010-05-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

We know Jesus Christ is God, and we seek to expound the words which are spoken, according to the dignity of the person. Wherefore it is necessary for us to call the Scriptures into testimony; for our meanings and enarrations, without these witnesses, have no credibility.
Origen (c. 185-254AD), Tractatus 5 on Matthew

No man ought, for the confirmation of doctrines, use books which are not canonised Scriptures.
Origen, Tractatus 26 on Matthew

Note: Here Origen speaks unambiguously on the need to prove doctrine from scripture alone.

Possible Objections:
a) Origen was a heretic.
Response: Strictly speaking, Origen is not a church father it is true, as he was anathematised posthumously by the 5th Ecumenical Council for teaching nine heresies (no, sola scriptura wasn't one of them!). Nevertheless, he is recognised as a seminal early theologian whose reflections on the Trinity and Christology served to deepen the church's understanding of these doctrines and were indeed foundational to later definitions. A teacher may be orthodox on most points of doctrine, and yet commit errors in several places; this does not render his thought without value, particularly as testimony to what was believed at a particular time in church history.

b) Origen's conception of the canon was wider than the present church's, including writings we now recognise as sub-apostolic.
Response: This objection is beside the point, which is that Origen regarded the canon of scripture as he understood to have primacy over the writings of any other authority, to the extent that scripture alone should be used to prove doctrine. His error concerning the canonicity of certain sub-apostolic writings is understandable given that the church was still discerning which writings were indeed canonical.

Irenaeus on the Authority of Scripture

2010-04-30T21:17:00.000-07:00

John Chrysostom on the Ground of Our Salvation

2010-04-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

Even if we have thousands of acts of great virtue to our credit, our confidence in being heard must be based on God's mercy and His love for men. Even if we stand at the very summit of virtue, it is by mercy that we shall be saved.

John Chrysostom
(I've noted this down without the source; I'm sure it comes from Chrysostom's sermons. Perhaps someone can help with a reference?)

John of Damascus on the co-inherence of the Spirit in the eternal Word

2010-04-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

'...so also, when we have learned about the Spirit of God, we contemplate it as the companion of the Word and the revealer of His energy, and not as mere breath without subsistence. For to conceive of the Spirit that dwells in God as after the likeness of our own spirit, would be to drag down the greatness of the divine nature to the lowest depths of degradation. But we must contemplate it as an essential power, existing in its own proper and peculiar subsistence, proceeding from the Father and resting in the Word , and showing forth the Word, neither capable of disjunction from God in Whom it exists, and the Word Whose companion it is, nor poured forth to vanish into nothingness , but being in subsistence in the likeness of the Word, endowed with life, free volition, independent movement, energy, ever willing that which is good, and having power to keep pace with the will in all its decrees , having no beginning and no end. For never was the Father at any time lacking in the Word, nor the Word in the Spirit.'

John of Damascus, The Orthodox Faith, Book I.7

New Quotations on Law and Gospel

2010-02-07T23:27:00.000-08:00

Several new quotations showing how the Fathers worked with the distinction between Law and Gospel have been posted under that category heading, showing that this hermeneutical rule was not a Reformation innovation but a truth known by the early church and ultimately drawn from scripture itself. To be sure, the Fathers did not always grasp the distinction between Law and Gospel with the clarity that would be shown by the Lutheran Fathers, but these quotations show that this aspect of Reformation theology was a legitimate, organic development of doctrine by Luther and subsequent exegetes.

The Power & Authority of Bishops

2009-12-14T02:13:00.001-08:00

That bishops ought to be elected by the congregations [TP, 6 (Tappert p. 322)]:

I am in sorrow that the Church of the Lord among you is still without a bishop...
Is this the training of a confessor, is this the line of those upright fathers who, although they did not know blessed Eusebius [the previous bishop] before, setting aside their fellow citizens, approved him as soon as they saw him? And so much more did they approve him when they observed him. Rightfully did he come forth, the man whom the entire Church elected; rightfully was it believed that he, whom all had demanded, was elected by God’s judgment. You, then, should follow the example of your parents, especially since you have been much better instructed by a saintly confessor than were your fathers inasmuch as a better teacher has instructed and trained you, and you must give evidence of your moderation and accord by agreeing in your request for a bishop.
We have our Lord’s saying that ‘when two agree upon anything on earth it will be done for them concerning whatever they ask,’ as He says, ‘by my Father who is in heaven, for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them’ [Matt. 18:19-20]. How much more true is it that when the full congregation is gathered in the name of the Lord, and when the demand of all is one in accord, we may not in any way doubt that the Lord Jesus will there be the judge – the source of their will, the presiding officer of the ordination, the giver of grace!

Ambrose of Milan, Letter 63, The Fathers of the Church, Vol. 26, The Catholic University of America, (1954), pp. 321-22.

Original Sin

2009-11-30T02:40:00.000-08:00

That the concupiscence which remains after regeneration is truly sin, in contradiction to the Roman doctrine set forth at the Council of Trent that regeneration removes sin and renders one innocent and pure:

We cannot be clean in this in this earthly and carrion habitation of the body unless through the ablution of mercy from heaven, we attain a cleansing when a more glorious nature is wrought in our earthly body after the change of the resurrection.

Hilary, as quoted by Augustine in Contra Julianum.

Let no-one flatter himselfthat he has a pure and spotless heart, so that, relying on his innocence, he believes that medicine need not be applied to his wounds, because it is written: 'Who will boast that he has a pure heart? Or who will boast that he is free from sin?' But if no-one is able to be without sin, then whoever says that he is blameless is either proud or foolish.

Cyprian, as quoted by Augustine in Contra Julianum

Law and Gospel

2009-11-22T02:03:00.001-08:00

Both testaments belong to God, who says, "I kill, and I make alive,; I wound and I heal" (Deut 32:39). We have already made good the Creator's claim to this twofold character of judgment and goodness, "killing in the letter" through the law, and "quickening in the Spirit" through the Gospel (2 Cor 3:6).
Tertullian, Antei-Nicene Fathers, 3:452-453

The Gospel's promise is distinguished from the law, and since it is different it cannot be mixed with the Law, for a condition invalidates the promise.
Ticonius (d.circa 390AD), Book of Rules. Ticonius is one of the first Christian theologians to treat hermeneutics, or the science of biblical interpretation, as a subject in itself. His work influenced Augustine.

Therefore, whenever you hear sinners cursed in Scripture, understand it concerning the proud, as I said, that is, those who defend their sins. Likewise, as often as you hear the poor praised, do not consider it with regard to all the poor, but only those Christians who are meek and humble of heart. Of these it is written: 'Upon whom shall my spirit rest, but upon the humble and meek, upon him that trembleth at my words?'
Caesarius of Arles, Homily 48

In the Law, he that has sin is punished,; here, he that has sins comes and is baptised and is made righteous, and being made righteous, he lives, being delivered from the death that sin brings. The Law, if it lay hold of a murderer, puts him to death; the Gospel, if it lay hold on a murderer, enligtens,a nd gives him life.
John Chrysostom, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, I, 12:307

Paul's words are, "The righteousness of God is shown forth..."This is witnessed by the law and the prophets; in other words, the law and the prophest each testify about it. The law, indeed, does this by issuing its commands and threats,a nd by justifying no-one. It shows well enough that it is by God's gift, through the help of the Spirit, that a person is justified.
Augustine, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, I, 5:88-89.

If God has commanded that His precepts should be diligently kept (Ps 119:4) it is in order that, seeing our constant imperfection and our inability to fulfill the duty that we ought to do, we may fly to His mercy, and say, "Your steadfast love is better than life" (Psalm 63:3a). And not being able to appear clad in innocence or righteousness, we may at last be covered in the robe of confession.
Bernard of Clairvaux, Advent and Christmas Sermons.

You were sinning, O man, in darkness and in the shadow of death through ignorance of truth. You were sitting bound by the chains of sin. He came down to your prison not to torture you, but to rescue you from the power of darkness. And first the Teacher of truth dispelled the darkness of ignorance by the light of His wisdom. Then by the righteousness of faith he loosed the bonds of sin, freely justifying the sinner." Bernard, Canticles ch.XV

Ah! From what great bitterness of soul have you often delivered me, O Good Jesus, coming to me!... How often has prayer taken me on the brink of despair, and then restored to me the state of soul of one exulting in joy and confident forgiveness. Those who are afflicted in this way, behold they know that the Lord Jesus is truly a Physician Who healeth the broken of heart and bindeth up their bruses"
Bernard, Canticles ch.XX

The Papacy

2009-11-21T22:31:00.000-08:00

Scripture References:
Confessional references: Smalcald Articles, Part II, Art IV; Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope;

And if we too have said like Peter, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” not as if flesh and blood had revealed it unto us, but by light from the Father in heaven having shone in our heart, we become a Peter, and to us there might be said by the Word, “Thou art Peter,” etc. For a rock is every disciple of Christ of whom those drank who drank of the spiritual rock which followed them, and upon every such rock is built every word of the church, add the polity in accordance with it; for in each of the perfect, who have the combination of words and deeds and thoughts which fill up the blessedness, is the church built by God.
Origen, Commentary on Matthew 12.10

They say that Linus succeeded the mighty Peter and ruled the church of the Romans after him.
Theodoret of Cyrus (c. 393-457), Commentary on 2 Timothy, Chapter 4.
Note: Theodoret clearly limits the ecclesiastical authority of the successor of Peter to the local Roman church only.

Let no one then foolishly suppose that the Christ is any other than the only begotten Son. Let us not imagine ourselves wiser than the gift of the Spirit. Let us hear the words of the great Peter, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Let us hear the Lord Christ confirming this confession, for “On this rock,” He says, “I will build my church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”
Theodoret, Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, Letter146

What then saith Christ? “Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas.” “Thus since thou hast proclaimed my Father, I too name him that begat thee;” all but saying, “As thou art son of Jonas, even so am I of my Father.” Else it were superfluous to say, “Thou art Son of Jonas;” but since he had said, “Son of God,” to point out that He is so Son of God, as the other son of Jonas, of the same substance with Him that begat Him, therefore He added this, “And I say unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church;” that is, on the faith of his confession.
John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew LIV.3

If any one consider and examine these things, there is no need for lengthened discussion and arguments. There is easy proof for faith in a short summary of the truth. The Lord speaks to Peter, saying, “I say unto thee, that thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”… Assuredly the rest of the apostles were also the same as was Peter, endowed with a like partnership both of honour and power; but the beginning proceeds from unity.
Cyprian, On the Unity of the Church 4

An Ecumenical Council condemns a Pope for heresy:
After reading the doctrinal letter of Sergius of Constantinople to Cyrus of Phasis (afterwards of Alexandria) and to Pope Honorius, and also the letter of the latter to Sergius, we found that these documents were quite foreign...to the apostolic doctrines, and to the declarations of the holy Councils and all the Fathers of note, and follow the false doctrines of heretics. Therefore we reject them completely, and abhor...them as hurtful to the soul. But also the names of these men must be thrust out of the Church, namely, that of Sergius, the first who wrote on this impious doctrine. Further, that of Cyrus of Alexandria, of Pyrrhus, Paul, and Peter of Constantinople, and of Theodore of Pharan, all of whom also Pope Agatho rejected in his letter to the Emperor. We punish them all with anathema. But along with them, it is our universal decision that there shall also be shut out from the Church and anathematized the former Pope Honorius of Old Rome, because we found in his letter to Sergius, that in everything he followed his view and confirmed his impious doctrine.
Sixth Ecumenical Council, Session XIII, March 28 (o.s.) 681
Note: On this matter, the scholar Jaroslav Pelikan wites the following, "In the controversy between East and West...the case of Honorius served as proof to Photius that the popes not only lacked authority over church councils, but were fallible in matters of dogma; for Honorius had embraced the heresy of the Monotheletes. The proponents of that heresy likewise cited the case of Honorius, not in opposition to the authority of the pope but in support of their own doctrine, urging that all teachers of the true faith had confessed it, including Sergius, the bishop of New Rome, and Honorius, the bishop of Old Rome" (Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1974), Volume Two, pp. 150-151).
A leading Roman Catholic historian of the 19th century regarded this decision as decisive evidence against papal infallibility as defined in 1870, "This one fact, that a Great Council, universally received afterwards without hesitation throughout the Church, and presided over by Papal legates, pronounced the dogmatic decision of a Pope heretical, and anathematized him by name as a heretic is a proof, clear as the sun at noonday, that the notion of any peculiar enlightenment or inerrancy of the Popes was then utterly unknown to the whole Church (Janus (Johann Joseph Ignaz von Dollinger), The Pope and the Council (Boston: Roberts, 1870,p. 61).

Augustine on Matthew 16:18:
Remember, in this man Peter, the rock. He's the one, you see, who on being questioned by the Lord about who the disciples said he was, replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' On hearing this, Jesus said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you...‘You are Peter (rocky), and on this rock I shall build my Church, and the gates of the underworld will not conquer her. To you shall I give the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth shall also be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall also be loosed in heaven’ (Mt 16:15-19). In Peter (rocky), we see our attention drawn to the rock. Now the apostle Paul says about the former people, ‘They drank from the spiritual rock that was following them; but the rock was Christ’ (1 Cor 10:4). So this disciple is called Rocky from the rock, like Christian from Christ...Why have I wanted to make this little introduction? In order to suggest to you that in Peter the Church is to be recognized. Christ, you see, built his Church not on a man but on Peter’s confession. What is Peter’s confession? ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ There’s the rock for you, there’s the foundation, there’s where the Church has been built, which the gates of the underworld cannot conquer.
Augustine of Hippo, John Rotelle, Ed., The Works of Saint Augustine (New Rochelle: New City Press, 1993), Sermons, Vol. 6, Sermon 229P.1, p. 327

The Mass

2009-11-21T22:05:00.000-08:00

The Mass not a Sin-Offering
Scripture References: 1 Cor 11:20ff; Hebrews 7:27; 9:28; 10:10, 12-14;
Confessional References: AC XXIV; Apol XXIV;

So if the priesthood according to the Law also came to an end, and the highpriest according to the order of Melchizedek offered sacrifice and made further sacrifices unnecessary, why do the priests of the New Covenant perform the sacramental liturgy? It is clear to those versed in divine things, however, that it is not another sacrifice we offer; rather, we perform the commemoration of the one, saving sacrifice. The Lord himself, remember, required this of us, "Do this in memory of me," so that we should recall with insight the type of the sufferings undergone for us, kindle love for the benefactor and look forward to the enjoyment of the good things to come.
Theodoret of Cyrus (c. 393-457), Commentary on the Letter to the Hebrews, Chapter 8.

...in Alexandria, the Scriptures are read and the doctors expound them on Wednesday and Friday, and all things are done except for the solemn remembrance of the sacrifice.
Cassiodorus (480-570), The Tripartite Ecclesiastical History, quoting Socrates, Ecclesiastical History, V.22. (the significance of this quote is two-fold: 1) note the attention paid in Alexandria to the exposition of the scriptures in public worship 2) note also that this took place without the celebration of holy communion, which, germane to our topic, is referred to as 'the solemn remembrance of the sacrifice', i.e. not a sacrifice itself, and was presumably reserved for the Lord's Day.)

Feedback Requested From Followers and Readers

2009-11-15T16:07:00.000-08:00

Greetings Followers and other Readers of this Blog!

I hope you are well and that the blog has been of benefit to you in increasing your confidence in the catholicity of Lutheran doctrine.

Today is my 'day off' (I'm actually posting this on Monday 16th Australian time, for some reason my date stamp is a day behind), which gives me a little time to work on my blogs.

I've been mulling over the format of Lutheran Catholicity and wondering whether, before it gets too big, a change in format might be advisable. I would appreciate your feedback on this matter. Please do so via the comments box or e-mail me via my profile page e-mail address.

Basically, as you know, at the moment the format is that of an expanding book, with new entries added to an existing 'chapter'. This suits my purposes well but probably makes it difficult for the reader to follow - a new entry containing an important citation, e.g. the recently posted quote from John Chrysostom on the justification of the thief on the cross by grace alone through faith alone, might be missed if you do not re-read the appropriate 'chapter' and see the new quote. Therefore I am proposing a normal blog format where each new post is a new and separate entry which is also filed under one or more categories. This would mean that I will have to re-post all the quotes on the blog at present in this format, a little bit of extra work, but worth it if it makes the blog easier to follow and benefit from, which is the goal.

Let me know what you think...

Peace & Joy in the Lord!
'Acroamaticus'

Scripture's Clarity

2009-11-04T01:28:00.000-08:00

In the two testaments every word that pertaineth unto God may be sought and discussed, and out of them all knowledge of things may be understood. And if anything remains which Holy Scripture does not determine, no other third scripture ought to be received to authorize any knowledge, but we must “commit to the fire” what remains, that is, reserve it unto God.
Origen, Homily on Leviticus

When I arrived in the district of Arsinoe, when as you know this notion had long been widely held, so that schisms and secessions of entire churches had taken place, I called a meeting of the presbyters and teachers of the village congregations, with any laymen who wished to attend, and urged them to thrash out the question in public.
So they brought me this book as positive and irrefutable proof, and I sat with them for three days on end from dawn to dusk, criticizing its contents point by point. In the process I was immensely impressed by the essential soundness, complete sincerity, logical grasp, and mental clarity shown by these good people, as we methodically and good-temperedly dealt with questions, objections, and points of agreement. We refused to cling with pig-headed determination to opinions once held even if proved wrong. There was no shirking of difficulties, but to the limit of our powers we tried to grapple with the problems and master them; nor were we too proud, if worsted in argument, to abandon our position and admit defeat; conscientiously, honestly, and with simple-minded trust in God, we accepted the conclusions to be drawn from the proofs and teachings of Holy Writ.
Eusebius, The History of the Church, quoting Dionysius c. 200-c. 265, Bishop of Alexandria

They have not hesitated to corrupt the word of God; they have treated the standard of the primitive faith with contempt; they have not known Christ. Instead of asking what Holy Scripture says, they strain every nerve to find a syllogistic figure to bolster up their godlessness. If anyone challenges them with a text from Divine Scripture, they examine it to see whether it can be turned into a conjunctive or disjunctive syllogistic figure. They put aside the sacred word of God, and devote themselves to geometry—earth measurement—because they are from the earth and speak from the earth, and do not know the One who comes from above. Some of them give all their energies to the study of Euclidean geometry, and treat Aristotle and Theophrastus with reverent awe; to some of them Galen is almost an object of worship. When people avail themselves of the arts of unbelievers to lend colour to their heretical views, and with godless rascality corrupt the simple Faith of Holy Writ, it is obvious that they are nowhere near the Faith.
Eusebius, The History of the Church, Book 5, quoting an anonymous “orthodox churchman” who wrote during the time of Zephyrinus, bishop of Rome A.D. 201-217.

When we receive money, we do not trust to those who give it to us; we wish to count it ourselves: and when there is a question of Divine things, would it not be a folly rashly and blindly to receive the opinions of others, when we have a rule by which we can examine everything? I mean the Divine law. It is for this reason that I adjure you all, without resting in the slightest degree on the judgment of others, to consult the Scriptures.
John Chrysostom, Homilily 13 on 2 Corinthians

It is from ignorance of Scripture that all our evils arise; hence the plague of so many heresies, hence our careless lives, our fruitless labors… They err who look not to the bright rays of the divine Scriptures, because they walk in darkness.
John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans, more exact reference needed

Look for no other teacher; you have the oracles of God; none can teach you like these.
John Chrysostom, Homily 9 on the Epistle to the Colossians

When you shall see the wicked heresy, which is the army of Antichrist, standing in the holy places of the church, then let those who are in Judea head for the mountains, that is, those who are Christians should head for the Scriptures. For
the true Judea is Christendom, and the mountains are the Scriptures of the prophets and apostles, as it is written: “Her foundations are in the holy mountains.” But why should all Christians at this time head for the Scriptures?
Because in this period in which heresy has taken possession of the churches there can be no proof of true Christianity nor any other refuge for Christians who want to know the truth of the faith except the divine Scriptures. Earlier we showed in many ways which is the church of Christ, and which heathenism. But now there is for those who want to know which is the true church of Christ no way to know it except only the through the Scriptures. Why? Because heresy has everything just like the church. How, then, will anyone who wants to know which is the true church of Christ know it in the midst of this great confusion resulting from this similarity, except only through the Scriptures? The Lord, therefore, knowing that there would be such a great confusion of things in the last days, commands that Christians who…want to gain steadfastness in the true faith should take refuge in nothing else but the Scriptures. Otherwise, if they look to other things, they will be offended and will perish, because they will not know which is the true church, and as a result they will fall into the abomination of desolation which stands in the holy places of the church.
Ascribed to John Chrysostom, Glossa Ordinaria,49th Homily,on Matt 24

Scripture and Tradition

2009-11-04T00:02:00.000-08:00

Such, then, is their system, which neither the prophets announced, nor the Lord taught, nor the apostles delivered, but of which they boast that beyond all others they have a perfect knowledge. They gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures; and, to use a common proverb, they strive to weave ropes of sand, while they endeavour to adapt with an air of probability to their own peculiar assertions the parables of the Lord, the sayings of the prophets, and the words of the apostles, in order that their scheme may not seem altogether without support. In doing so, however, they disregard the order and the connection of the Scriptures, and so far as in them lies, dismember and destroy the truth. By transferring passages, and dressing them up anew, and making one thing out of another, they succeed in deluding many through their wicked art in adapting the oracles of the Lord to their opinions. Their manner of acting is just as if one, when a beautiful image of a king has been constructed by some skilful artist out of precious jewels, should then take this likeness of the man all to pieces, should rearrange the gems, and so fit them together as to make them into the form of a dog or of a fox, and even that but poorly executed; and should then maintain and declare that this was the beautiful image of the king which the skilful artist constructed, pointing to the jewels which had been admirably fitted together by the first artist to form the image of the king, but have been with bad effect transferred by the latter one to the shape of a dog, and by thus exhibiting the jewels, should deceive the ignorant who had no conception what a king’s form was like, and persuade them that that miserable likeness of the fox was, in fact, the beautiful image of the king. In like manner do these persons patch together old wives’ fables, and then endeavour, by violently drawing away from their proper connection, words, expressions, and parables whenever found, to adapt the oracles of God to their baseless fictions. We have already stated how far they proceed in this way with respect to the interior of the Pleroma.
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 1, Chapter 8, Section 1

If the truth has become uncertain at any point, let us return to its origin in the Lord and to the tradition of the Gospels and the Apostles.
Cyprian, Ad Pompeium

Where is this tradition from? Does it come from the authority of the Lord and of the Gospels, or from the commands and Epistles of the Apostles? For God testifies in Joshua 1:7 that those things which are written must be done. If, therefore, it is either commanded in the Gospels or contained in the Epistles and Acts of the Apostles, let also this holy tradition be observed.
Cyprian, Ad Pompeium

We are not content simply because this is the tradition of the Fathers. What is important is that the Fathers followed the meaning of the Scripture.
Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, 7.16

If the Lord is faithful in all he says, it is clearly a falling from faith and a sin of pride either to reject anything of the things that are written or to add anything unwritten.
Basil the Great, cited in Chemnitz, ECT 1.224

The generality of men still fluctuate in their opinions about this, which are as erroneous as they are numerous. As for ourselves, if the Gentile philosophy, which deals methodically with all these points, were really adequate for a demonstration, it would certainly be superfluous to add a discussion on the soul to those speculations, but while the latter proceeded, on the subject of the soul, as far in the direction of supposed consequences as the thinker pleased, we are not entitled to such license, I mean that of affirming what we please; we make the Holy Scriptures the rule and the measure of every tenet (dogma); we necessarily fix our eyes upon that, and approve that alone which may be made to harmonise with the intention of those writings.
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Soul And the Resurrection, NPNF II, V.439

But take thou and hold that faith only as a learner and in profession, which is by the Church delivered to thee, and is established from all Scripture. For since all cannot read the Scripture, but some as being unlearned, others by business, are hindered from the knowledge of them; in order that the soul may not perish for lack of instruction, in the Articles which are few we comprehend the whole doctrine of Faith...And for the present, commit to memory the Faith, merely listening to the words; and expect at the fitting season the proof of each of its parts from the Divine Scriptures. For the Articles of the Faith were not composed at the good pleasure of men: but the most important points chosen from all Scriptures, make up the one teaching of the Faith. And, as the mustard seed in a little grain contains many branches, thus also this Faith, in a few words, hath enfolded in its bosom the whole knowledge of godliness contained both in the Old and New Testaments. Behold, therefore, brethren and hold the traditions which ye now receive, and write them on the table of your hearts
Cyril of Jeruslaem, Catechetical Lectures 5.12

How to Use This Blog

2009-10-26T03:15:00.000-07:00

Welcome!

The purpose of this blog is to record and catalogue quotations both ancient and modern in support of the catholicity of Lutheran doctrine and make them available to all who are interested. It is recommended that instead of reading this blog like any other, that is, starting at the most recent post, you instead use the menu list to the right, headed 'Articles of Faith and Other Categories', to navigate your way through the various categories of posts. The 'Articles of Faith' correspond more or less to those listed in the Augsburg Confession, the primary Lutheran confession of faith (1530AD), while the 'Other Categories' include doctrinal subjects not explicitly discussed in the Augsburg Confession and blog related subjects, including the category 'What is Catholicity', which contains posts that explore that topic.

This blog is a work in progress, so each category is likely to expand considerably in content over the next twelve or so months, and new categories will also be added regularly, so check back frequently. If the present format becomes too unwieldy, it may be revised as we go, so it can be kept as user-friendly as possible. Also, because quotations have been obtained at various times and from various places, the bibliographic references may not be complete and may not reflect a uniform style; in time I hope to correct these shortcomings, but for the moment it seems more important to collate and publish the material I have and get as many categories as possible listed.

Please consider becoming an official follower, since it encourages me to know that people are actually reading and interested in this project!

Thanks for visiting, come again, and may God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, bless you with peace and joy.

Christology

2009-10-26T02:55:00.000-07:00

Because of this Unity of Person, it happens that what is proper to God is ascribed to the man, and what is proper to the flesh is ascribed to God indifferently and without distinction. Therefore, as it is written in Holy Scripture: 'He that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven' and 'crucified the Lord of glory' on earth. Furthermore, since the body of the Lord was made and created, it is said that the 'Word' of God Himself was 'made'. His wisdom filled up, His knowledge created; therefore do the prophetic writings refer to His hands and feet as 'pierced.' - Vincent of Lerins, Commonitories, Chapter 15

The Word, however, communicates what is of His own to man, but does not receive, in turn, that which is from the mortal; and He imparts the divine power to the mortal, but is not led, in turn, into a participation of the mortal (the Word of the Father has of Himself communicated what was His to the assumed man; for He has communicated the divine power to the assumed mortal nature, but has not, in turn, assumed for Himself anything out of the mortal nature).
Eusebius, Demonstr. Evang., 1.4

The Sufficiency of Scripture

2009-10-26T02:51:00.000-07:00

Read more diligently that gospel which is given to us by the apostles; and read more diligently the prophets, and you will find every action and the whole doctrine of our Lord preached in them.
Ireneaus, Against Heretics 4:66

We know that the Scriptures are perfect, being spoken by the Word of God and His Spirit.
Irenaeus, Against Heretics, 2.47

We have received the disposition of our salvation by no others, but those by whom the Gospel came to us; which they then preached, and afterwards by God's will delivered to us in the Scriptures, to be the pillar and ground of our faith.
Irenaeus, Against Heretics, 3.1

Let the school of Hermogenes prove that what it advances is written; or if it be not written, let it fear the malediction uttered against those who dare to add or to retrench.
Tertullian, Against Hermogenes, exact reference needed

There is one God, whom we do not otherwise acknowledge, brethren, but out of the Sacred Scriptures. For as he, who would profess the wisdom of this world cannot otherwise attain it, unless he read the doctrines of the philosophers; so whosoever will exercise piety towards God, can learn it no where but from the Holy Scriptures.
Hippolytus, Against Noetus ch. 9 more exact reference needed

They that are ready to spend their time in the best things will not give up seeking for the truth until they have found the demonstration from the Scriptures themselves.
Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 7.16.3

In which (the two Testaments) every word that appertains to God may be required and discussed; and all knowledge may be understood out of them. But if anything remain which the Holy Scripture does not determine, no other third Scripture ought to be received for authorizing any knowledge or doctrine; but that which remains we must commit to the fire, that is, we will reserve it for God. For in this present world God would not have us to know all things.
Origen, Homilies on Leviticus, 5.9.6

We are not entitled to such license, I mean that of affirming what we please; we make the Holy Scriptures the rule and the measure of every tenet; we necessarily fix our eyes upon that, and approve that alone which may be made to harmonize with the intention of those writings.
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Soul and the Resurrection NPNF II, V:439

What is the mark of a faithful soul? To be in these dispositions of full acceptance on the authority of the words of Scripture, not venturing to reject anything nor making additions. For, if ‘all that is not of faith is sin’ as the Apostle says, and ‘faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,’ everything outside Holy Scripture, not being of faith, is sin.
Basil the Great, The Morals, p. 204, vol 9 TFOTC.

We are not content simply because this is the tradition of the Fathers. What is important is that the Fathers followed the meaning of the Scripture.
Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, Ch 7, par. 16.

If the Lord is faithful in all he says, it is clearly a falling from faith and a sin of pride either to reject anything of the things that are written or to add anything unwritten.
Basil the Great, cited in Chemnitz, ECT 1.224

Enjoying as you do the consolation of the Holy Scriptures, you stand in need neither of my assistance nor of that of anybody else to help you comprehend your duty. You have the all-sufficient counsel and guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead you to what is right.
Basil the Great NPNFII, VIII, Letters and Select Works, Letter CCLXXXIII, p. 312

Neither dare one agree with catholic bishops if by chance they err in anything, but the result that their opinion is against the canonical Scriptures of God.
Augustine, De unitate ecclesiae, ch. 10,

It is impossible either to say or fully to understand anything about God beyond what has been divinely proclaimed to us, whether told or revealed, by the sacred declarations of the Old and New Testaments.
John of Damascus, On the Orthodox Faith, Book I, Chapter 2

Not even the least of the divine and holy mysteries of the faith ought to be handed down without the divine Scriptures. Do not simply give faith to me speaking these things to you except you have the proof of what I say from the divine Scriptures. For the security and preservation of our faith are not supported by ingenuity of speech, but by the proofs of the divine Scriptures.
Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 4.17

But take thou and hold that faith only as a learner and in profession, which is by the Church delivered to thee, and is established from all Scripture. For since all cannot read the Scripture, but some as being unlearned, others by business, are hindered from the knowledge of them; in order that the soul may not perish for lack of instruction, in the Articles which are few we comprehend the whole doctrine of Faith...And for the present, commit to memory the Faith, merely listening to the words; and expect at the fitting season the proof of each of its parts from the Divine Scriptures. For the Articles of the Faith were not composed at the good pleasure of men: but the most important points chosen from all Scriptures, make up the one teaching of the Faith. And, as the mustard seed in a little grain contains many branches, thus also this Faith, in a few words, hath enfolded in its bosom the whole knowledge of godliness contained both in the Old and New Testaments. Behold, therefore, brethren and hold the traditions which ye now receive, and write them on the table of your hearts
Cyrl of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 5.12

The Catholic Christians will neither speak nor endure to hear any thing in religion that is a stranger to Scripture; it being an evil heart of immodesty to speak those things which are not written.
Athanasius, Exhort. ad Monachas

Abbreviations

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Apol The Apology of the Augsburg Confession
AC The Augsburg Confession
CC The Confessio Catholica by Johann Gerhard
EP The Epitome, Part I of the Formula of Concord
ECT The Examination of the Council of Trent by Martin Chemnitz
FC The Formula of Concord
LT The Loci Theologici by Martin Chemnitz
NPNF Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (eds. Schaff & Wace)
PG Patrologia Graeca (Migne)
PL Patrologia Latina (Migne)
SA The Smalcald Articles
SD The Solid Declaration, Part II of the Formula of Concord
ST The Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas
TP The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope

The Authority of Scripture

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We have known the method of our salvation by no other means than those by whom the gospel came to us; which gospel they truly preached; but afterward, by the will of God, they delivered to us in the Scriptures, to be for the future the foundation and pillar of our faith.
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.1

We know Jesus Christ is God, and we seek to expound the words which are spoken, according to the dignity of the person. Wherefore it is necessary for us to call the Scriptures into testimony; for our meanings and enarrations, without these witnesses, have no credibility.
Origen, Tractatus 5 on Matthew

No man ought, for the confirmation of doctrines, use books which are not canonized Scriptures.
Origen, Tractatus 26 on Matthew

There is one God, whom we do not otherwise acknowledge, brethren, but out of the Holy Scriptures. For as he that would possess the wisdom of this world cannot otherwise obtain it than to read the doctrines of the philosophers; so whosoever of us will exercise piety toward God cannot learn this elsewhere but out of the Holy Scriptures. Whatsoever, therefore, the Holy Scriptures do preach, that let us know, and whatsoever they teach, that let us understand.
Hippolytus, Tome 3, Bibliotheque Patrium, ed. Colonna)

Regarding the things I say, I should supply even the proofs, so I will not seem to rely on my own opinions, but rather, prove them with Scripture, so that the matter will remain certain and steadfast.
St. John Chrysostom, Homily 8 On Repentance and the Church, p. 118, vol. 96 TFOTC

Let the inspired Scriptures then be our umpire, and the vote of truth will be given to those whose dogmas are found to agree with the Divine words.
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Holy Trinity, NPNF, p. 327.

We are not entitled to such license, I mean that of affirming what we please; we make the Holy Scriptures the rule and the measure of every tenet; we necessarily fix our eyes upon that, and approve that alone which may be made to harmonise with the intention of those writings.
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Soul and the Resurrection NPNF II, V:439

What is the mark of a faithful soul? To be in these dispositions of full acceptance on the authority of the words of Scripture, not venturing to reject anything nor making additions. For, if ‘all that is not of faith is sin’ as the Apostle says, and ‘faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,’ everything outside Holy Scripture, not being of faith, is sin.
Basil the Great, The Morals, p. 204, vol 9 TFOTC.

It is impossible either to say or fully to understand anything about God beyond what has been divinely proclaimed to us, whether told or revealed, by the sacred declarations of the Old and New Testaments.
John of Damascus, On the Orthodox Faith, Book I, Chapter 2

Not even the least of the divine and holy mysteries of the faith ought to be handed down without the divine Scriptures. Do not simply give faith to me speaking these things to you except you have the proof of what I say from the divine Scriptures. For the security and preservation of our faith are not supported by ingenuity of speech, but by the proofs of the divine Scriptures.
Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures Number 4

The Catholic Christians will neither speak nor endure to hear any thing in religion that is a stranger to Scripture; it being an evil heart of immodesty to speak those things which are not written.
Athanasius, Exhort. ad Monachas

Whence comes this tradition? Does it descend from the Lord’s authority, or from the commands and epistles of the apostles? For those things are to be done which are there written. ... If it be commanded in the gospels or the epistles and Acts of the Apostles, then let this holy tradition be observed.
Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle Number 74 to Pompei

Yet holy teaching employs such authorities (e.g. human reason, philosophy) only in order to provide, as it were, extraneous arguments from probability. Its own proper authorities are those of canonical scripture, and these it applied with convincing force. It has other proper authorities, the doctors of the church, and these it looks to as its own, but for arguments that carry no more than probability. For our faith rests on the revelation made to the prophets and apostles who wrote the canonical books, not on a revelation, if such there be, made to any other teacher.
Thomas Aquinas, ST, 2.2, Question 1 Article 8.

Objection: It would seem that it is unsuitable for the articles of faith to be embodied in a creed. Because Holy Writ is the rule of faith, to which no addition or subtraction can lawfully be made, since it is written (Deut. 4:2): “You shall not add to the word that I speak to you, neither shall you take away from it.” Therefore it was unlawful to make a creed as a rule of faith, after Holy Writ had once been published.
Reply: The truth of faith is contained in Holy Writ, diffusely, under various modes of expression, and sometimes obscurely, so that, in order to gather the truth of faith from Holy Writ, one needs long study and practice, which are unattainable by all those who require to know the truth of faith, many of whom have no time for study, being busy with other affairs. And so it was necessary to gather together a clear summary from the sayings of Holy Writ, to be proposed to the belief of all. This indeed was no addition to Holy Writ, but something gathered from it.
Thomas Aquinas, ST, 2.2, Question 1, Article 9

It should be noted that though many might write concerning Catholic truth, there is this difference, and those who wrote the canonical Scripture, the Evangelists and Apostles, and others of this kind, so constantly assert it that they leave no room for doubt; that is his meaning when he says 'we know his testimony is true.' Galatians 1:9, "If anyone preach a gospel to you other than that which you have received, let him be anathema!" The reason is that only canonical Scripture is a measure of faith. Others however so wrote of the truth that they should not be believed save insofar as they say true things."
Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John's Gospel, Super Evangelium S. Ioannis Lectura, ed. P. Raphaelis Cai, O.P., Editio V revisa (Romae: Marietti E ditori Ltd., 1952) n. 2656, p. 488.

Justification

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Human beings can be saved from the ancient wound of the serpent in no other way than by believing in him who, when he was raised up from the earth on the tree of martyrdom in the likeness of sinful flesh, drew all things to himself and gave life to the dead.
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 4.2.7

And we, too, being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Clement of Rome, exact reference needed

"Far be it from me to glory, except in the cross of Christ." You see that Paul does not glory on account of his own righteousness, purity, and wisdom, nor because of his other virtues and deeds. But when was this? At the time when he was writing to the Galatians.
Origen, on Romans 3, cited in Chemnitz ECT I.506

But what is the ‘law of faith?’ It is, being saved by grace. Here he shows God’s power, in that He has not only saved, but has even justified, and led them to boasting, and this too without needing works, but looking for faith only.
John Chrysostom Homily Number 7 on Romans

They said that he who adhered to faith alone was cursed; but he, Paul, shows that he who adhered to faith alone is blessed.
John Chrysostom, Homily Number 20 on 1st Corinthians, PG 61.164

Let us see, however, whether the brigand gave evidence of effort and upright deeds and a good yield. Far from his being able to claim even this, he made his way into paradise before the apostles with a mere word, on the basis of faith alone, the intention being for you to learn that it was not so much a case of his sound values prevailing as the Lord's lovingkindness being completely responsible.

What, in fact, did the brigand say? What did he do? Did he fast? Did he weep? Did he tear his garments? Did he display repentance in good time? Not at all: on the cross itself after his utterance he won salvation. Note the rapidity: from cross to heaven, from condemnation to salvation. What were those wonderful words, then? What great power did they have that they brought him such marvelous good things? "Remember me in your kingdom." What sort of word is that? He asked to receive good things, he showed no concern for them in action; but the one who knew his heart paid attention not to the words but to the attitude of mind.

John Chrysostom, Sermon 7 on Genesis, in St. John Chrysostom, Eight Sermons on the Book of Genesis, pp. 123-24 (2004), Robert C. Hill translator.

Indeed, this is the perfect and complete glorification of God, when one does not exult in his own righteousness, but recognizing oneself to be lacking in true righteousness, is instead justified by faith alone in Christ.
Basil the Great, Homily on Humility, PG 31.532

Let him who boasts boast in the Lord, that Christ has been made by God for us righteousness, wisdom, justification, redemption. This is perfect and pure boasting in God, when one is not proud on account of his own righteousness but knows that he is indeed unworthy of the true righteousness and is (or has been) justified solely by faith in Christ.
Basil the Great, exact reference needed

I will glory not because I am righteous but because I am redemmed; I will glory not because I am free from sins but because my sins are forgiven me. I will not glory because I have done good nor because someone has done good to me but because Christ is my advocate with the Father and because the blood of Christ has been shed for me.
Ambrose, De Jacob et vita beata, ch. 6

Therefore we are righteous when we confess ourselves sinners and when our righteousness consists not in our own merit but in the mercy of God.
Jerome, Dialogus contra Pelagianos, Book 1

You may proclaim that ancient righteous men possessed ever such great virtue, yet nothing saved them except faith in the Mediator, who shed his blood ofr the remission of sins.
Augustine, Ad Bonifacium, 1.21

The Pelagians believe they are singing the praises of the saints if they do not dare to say that they were men of imperfect virtue...And who was holier among the New Testament people than the Apostles? And yet the Lord commanded them to pray: Forgive us our sins. Therefore, there is for all the godly who cry out under the burden of their corrupted flesh and the infirmity of this life the one hope that 'we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, and He is the expiation for our sins'
Augustine, Ad Bonifacium, 3.5

For a good name among men a great number fo witnesses who know me suffices, but in the presence of God I do not dare to justify myself under the gaze of the Almighty by my conscience alone, although I bear it without trepidation against your accusations. I look for an abundance of mercy flowing out from him rather than for an extreme examination of judgment, considering that it is written, 'When the righteous King will sit upon his throne, who will boast that he has a pure heart, or that he is clean from sins?
Augustine, Contra Cresconium, 5.80

Who I Am & Who This Blog Is For (Updated 23.10.09)

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Greetings & welcome!

My name is Mark Henderson and I graduated from Luther Seminary in North Adelaide, Australia, with a B.Th. (Hons) and Grad. Dip. Min. in 2002. I have been in pastoral ministry for seven years in the Lutheran Church of Australia. I consider myself to be a conservative and confessional Lutheran in the best sense of both words, but also one who for precisely those reasons rejoices when aspects of the evangelical and catholic teaching that I treasure as Lutheran doctrine are found in representatives of other confessions as well. I am married with a family, which is to say that I also have a life outside of blogging!

While theology is my passion, I am not a professional theologian, by which I mean while I am trained in theology I am a working pastor who does not have large resources at his disposal in terms of time for research or easy access to a theological library. I am therefore reliant in this project on my own spare time and largely on my own library resources and other materials. Considering these circumstances, this is perhaps an ambitious, even audacious undertaking.

Why do it then?

My motivation is two-fold. Firstly, I have been thinking about the subject and collecting material on it for over ten years now, in fact I have collected what must amount to hundreds of quotes collected from sources both ancient and modern, and since the blogosphere provides an easy way to share this material with others who are interested, I thought, why not? If anyone out there has material they would like to share for the purposes of this blog, feel free to contact me (acroamaticus"at"yahoo.com.au). Some have already shared and I thank them for it. It may be that I already have the material you have collected, but it is possible that you may have one or two gems, in terms of patristic or other quotes, that I haven't turned up yet.

Secondly, like most apologetic endeavours, this project is undertaken as much, if not more, for those "within the camp" as those outside it. It is not my primary goal to persuade anyone who has already made their mind up on the issue of Lutheran catholicity, or rather, as they may see it, the lack of it, to reconsider any decisions they have made in regard to which communion they belong to. Not because the case for Lutheran catholicity is not strong, quite the opposite in my judgement, but because religion is an area where the heart as much as the head is operative. Lack of information and faulty thinking can be corrected if a person has a teachable spirit, but it often seems to me to be the case with those who have left the Lutheran communion over this issue that "the heart has its reasons that reason doesn't know". It would seem then that the hearts of such people must experience disappointment with their new communion before their minds may be led to reconsider their decision to leave the Lutheran communion, and perhaps then resources such as this will be helpful to them.
My primary goal is to help convince Lutherans that their faith has sufficient historical precedent to reasonably and confidently be deemed catholic, and also to provide a resource that may lead those who are considering leaving the Lutheran communion precisely because they doubt our catholicity to reconsider. If I can achieve this, albeit imperfectly, then I will consider this work a worthwhile endeavour.

A word about methodology. The material to be catalogued here will be built up in layers, so to speak, consisitng of the quotations from various sources which I am setting forth as testimony to the catholicity of Lutheran doctrine, along with scriptural and confessional references. Finally, I hope to provide a historical-theological commentary to link it all up (the "layering" may not always proceed in this order, depending on what I feel like working on). The last 'layer' will be the most demanding in terms of analysis, skill, time and resources and may well be beyond me working alone. Because of this "layering" methodology, early posts will be significantly expanded, even reworked entirely at later stages, and you will be notified as this happens.
It should be stated clearly that human authors are cited not as authorities in themselves, but as witnesses to how the teaching of scripture has been received and taught in the church in various times and places. Of course, there is always a danger in citing authors out of context, which is why the references to the original writings will always be given, that the reader may follow these up for him or her self.

Don't expect progress to be speedy. I have to collate my hard copy files and transfer the data to electronic form in most cases. But I do hope progress will be steady. Given the time at my disposal, I envisage that it will take between one to two years to complete, but I certainly hope that within six months the basic shape of the project will be evident and there will be some meat on the bones as well. Keep an eye on the 'Articles of Faith & Categories' list to the right as it will expand over time, beginning with the most fundamental doctrinal topics and branching out later to matters of practise, more or less following the pattern of the Augsburg Confession.

Quotations will be drawn from the patristic, medieval, Reformation and later periods and from writers of various confessional allegiances, and will thus be truly catholic in the basic sense of drawn from as universal a selection of Christian theological literature as possible.

I hope this material will also be serviceable to pastors and others as a presentation or study for educational or apologetic purposes; feel free to use the material for these purposes, but only on a not for profit basis and with acknowledgement of authorship if my words are used - of course, the quotations themselves in most cases will be in the public domain. If you do use this material or the "concept" and outline in a presentation, please let me know as I would be most interested to hear about responses.

(In regard to comments, my present attitude is this: I welcome constructive comment, but please be aware that my determination of what is constructive may well differ from yours! Let your comments be on topic, factual, civilised, and concise (I will grant latitude here if what you are saying demands it), and I will let them appear. If you think I'm factually wrong on something, by all means say so, but if you think I'm going to give you unlimited free space here to argue contrary to the purposes of this blog, think again. That's what your blog is for.
No ad hominem arguments either, be charitable in your interpretation of what others say, and bring your sense of humour to the table. I do not wish this to be a place for intemperate and/or interminable argument or a verbal re-fighting of the Thirty Years War. If you wish to pursue that sort of thing, take it to your own blogs. There are reasonable limits to discussion here and as the blog owner I will decide and enforce them. If you bear that in mind, then comments from Orthodox, Roman Catholic and other brethren (and sisters!) are most welcome.
I hope that all sounds reasonable and fair.)

May God grant that you will not only discover Lutheran catholicity here, but also grow in faith and love toward him by learning more about this golden thread of evangelical and catholic teaching that runs through church history.

S.D.G. Glory to God Alone!

1. The Lutheran Church Confesses the Catholic Creeds

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The Lutheran Church confesses the 'three catholic or ecumenical symbols' of the Christian faith according to the Western tradition: the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed.
This is the first piece of evidence for the catholicity of Lutheran doctrine that I wish to set forth. It is so obvious that it would seem not to need stating, but it cannot afford to be overlooked, as it is from this fundamental standpoint of creedal orthodoxy and catholicity that the Lutheran Church struggled to maintain her existence in the 16th Century in both the political and religious spheres. The Lutherans did not seek to found a new church, but to reform the Catholic Church of which they were members. New congregations were only formed, along with provisional measures for church government, when the Lutheran proposals for reform were rejected by the church authorities of the time.
Formal subscription to the Creeds at the beginning of the Book of Concord is a declaration that Lutherans accept and adhere to the ancient dogmas concerning the Holy Trinity, while their continued use in the Divine Service to this day, along with Trinitarian doxologies and hymns, reflects the reality of the life of the Trinity in the Lutheran church, which is the dogmatic basis for its catholicity, and bears witness to the reality of the life of Christ subsisting in, with and under the life of the Lutheran Church.
The confession of the ecumenical or catholic Creeds also shows that the Lutheran Church regards herself not as a sect but as a communion that subsists within the catholic church, in so far as she is visible in this world.

Scripture references
"...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:9-13, ESV)
"...no-one can say, 'Jesus is Lord', except in the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3 ESV)
"By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God..." (1 John 4:2,3 ESV)
"And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." (Matt 16:17, ESV)
"But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me." (John 15:26, ESV)

Confessional references
The Three Universal or Ecumenical Creeds (Concordia, 42-44; Tappert, 17-21; Kolb, 19-25).

From Luther's writings
“ A seven year-old-child knows what the church is, namely, holy believers and sheep who hear the voice of their Shepherd” Smalcald Articles (III.12).
"God's Word cannot be without God's people..." On the Councils & the Churches (WA 50:629.34).

Patristic references
“...wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic church.” Ignatius of Antioch (+ c. 110), Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, 81.
“The Word of God speaks to those who believe in him as being one soul, and one synagogue, and one church.” Justin Martyr (c.100-165), Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, 63.
“The catholic church possesses one and the same faith throughout the whole world.” Irenaeus (c. 125-202), Against Heresies, 1.10.3.
“Where the church is, there the Spirit of God is; and where the Spirit of God is , there is the church." Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.24.1
“We have one faith, one God, the same Christ, the same hope, the same baptismal sacrament; let me say it once and for all, we are one church.” Tertullian (c.160-220), On the veiling of virgins, 2.
“The churches, though they are so many and so great, comprise but one original church, founded by the Apostles, from which they all came forth.” Tertullian, The Prescription Against Heretics
“There is one God, and Christ is one, and there is one church.” Cyprian (200-258), The Epistles of Cyprian, 39.5.
“There is one body of the catholic church.” Athanasius (c. 293-373), Deposition of Arius, 1.
“The church among you is a part of the church existing everywhere and of the body which is made up of all the churches.” John Chrysostom (c. 347-407), Homilies (more accurate reference needed)
“Though the church be seven-fold, she is but one.” Jerome (c.340-420) Treatise Against Jovinianus 2.19.
"The church, which is scattered throughout the whole world, is called catholic."
Augustine, Epistle 170, 52, (MPL 33.194).

Is the Gospel Principle Too Narrow a Criterion by which to Define Catholicity?

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Comments by two readers have suggested that the Gospel Principle enunciated in my Provisional Statement on Catholicity below is too narrow to serve as a criterion for evaluating catholicity. In defence of this principle, I offer here an extract from the Annex to the Official Common Statement on the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, signed by the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation.

"The doctrine of justification is measure or touchstone for the Christian faith. No teaching may contradict this criterion. In this sense, the doctrine of justification is an "indispensable criterion which constantly serves to orient all the teaching and practice of our churches to Christ“ (JD l8). As such, it has its truth and specific meaning within the overall context of the Church’s fundamental Trinitarian confession of faith. We "share the goal of confessing Christ in all things, who is to be trusted above all things as the one Mediator (1 Tim 2:5-6) through whom God in the Holy Spirit gives himself and pours out his renewing gifts“ (JD 18)." [italics mine].

The complete statement can be found on the website of the Vatican: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/documents/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_31101999_cath-luth-official-statement_en.html

Provisional Statement on Catholicity (Revised 23.10.09)

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The following is a provisional statement on catholicity for the purposes of this blog that I am posting here for readers' comments and suggested improvements. I also posted it on my main blog, Glosses From An Old Manse (link at bottom of page); should the discussion be light here it may well be that it is happening over there.Thanks in anticipation for your input!

The word 'catholic' simply means universal or according to the whole
(Greek: kat'holikos). Catholicity is an attribute of the church in two senses. Primarily the church is catholic because its message, the Gospel, is intended for the whole human race. Secondly, the church is catholic because Christ, the Saviour of the whole world, is present with her, and from him the church has received the means of delivering his salvation to the world, the Gospel, which comes to human beings through the Word, Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Fundamentally, the Gospel is the Good News of what Christ has done for humankind in his life, death and, resurrection, but implicit in this Gospel message is Christian teaching or doctrine, which has universal testimony, validity and relevance, and it is this aspect of catholicity that this website will focus on. Early in the church's history, 'catholic' as a descriptor for the church came to refer to those who taught 'according to the whole' teaching of the church revealed by God to the prophets and apostles and recorded in the scriptures, as opposed to the heretics who represented factions who separated themselves from the church and its teaching.

The following is an attempt to define what is catholic for the purposes of this blog.

1. The Scripture Principle. To be catholic a statement or practise must be scriptural - "we believe, teach and confess that the sole rule and standard according to which all dogmas together with all teachers should be estimated and judged are the prophetic and apostolic scriptures of the Old and New Testaments alone, as it is written in Psalm 119:105 "Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path". And St Paul says in Galatians 1:8, "Even if an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed." [Formula of Concord, Epitome, 1]

This does not mean that an explicit scriptural warrant is required for every statement or practise deemed catholic, since some aspects of doctrine are drawn by logical and necessary inference from scripture (e.g. infant baptism).

2. The Gospel Principle. To be catholic a statement or practise must be consonant with the basic message of the Gospel, that is, that our sins are forgiven and we are justified before God for the sake of Christ, who by his death made full and complete satisfaction for our sins(see Romans chs. 3 & 4; the Augsburg Confession, Art IV). Any statement or practise that contradicts God's Gospel by advocating justification by works in whole or in part can self-evidently not be catholic.

This does not mean that every statement or practise deemed catholic must give the most perfect expression possible to the Gospel, only that it is consonant with the Gospel.

3. The Historical Principle. The study of church history teaches us that, under God's mysterious providence, and for his own good purposes, the impact of the Gospel in the world appears to have waxed and waned at various times and in various places. At times, the light of the Gospel, even within Christendom, has been darkened, though never completely extinguished. Even in such times, people were saved by clinging to God's Gospel.

The study of church history also teaches us that, under God's providence, the church's understanding of Holy Scripture and the Gospel has unfolded over time, often as different crises within Christendom have engaged the church's attention. Such insights do not represent new doctrines, but rather the deeper understanding of the doctrine (teaching) set forth in the prophetic and apostolic scriptures. This doctrine runs through the church's history like a golden thread through a tapestry, always present, though with differing degrees of brilliance in different times and places. It is this thread which we term 'catholicity' in its doctrinal aspect and which we seek to trace.

This means that statements and practises under examination must be evaluated with due reference to the historical position and prevailing culture of the writer and his local church at the time, although the Scripture and Gospel principles must ultimately prevail.

We confess that the Lutheran Reformation brought forth a deeper and clearer appreciation for and understanding of the Gospel and its application to the Christian life than had hitherto existed (except among the Apostles), which appreciation finds doctrinal expression in the Lutheran confessional writings. However, it should not be expected that God's people who lived and wrote before the Reformation will use exactly the same language or terminology as the Reformation Fathers.
Also, many expressions of genuine catholicity can be found to have emanated from outside the Lutheran communion since the Reformation, sometimes through felicitous inconsistency, sometimes through a positive grasp of Gospel truth set forth in Scripture, and such are welcomed here as true evidences of catholicity of doctrine.

Coming Soon!

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Evidences for the catholicity of the Lutheran Reformation.