in the whole world; which is the peculiar office of the Gospel.Secondly, through Baptism.Thirdly, through the holy Sacrament of the Altar.Fourthly, through the power of the keys, and also through the mutual conversation and consolation of brethren, Matt.18, 20: Where two or three are gathered together, etc.
V.Of Baptism.
Baptism is nothing else than the Word of God in the water, commanded by His institution, or, as Paul says, a washing in the Word; as also Augustine says: Let the Word come to the element, and it becomes a Sacrament.And for this reason we do not hold with Thomas and the monastic preachers [or Dominicans] who forget the Word (God's institution) and say that God has imparted to the water a spiritual power, which through the water washes away sin.Nor [do we agree] with Scotus and the Barefooted monks [Minorites or Franciscan monks], who teach that, by the assistance of the divine will, Baptism washes away sins, and that this ablution occurs only through the will of God, and by no means through the Word or water.Of the baptism of children we hold that children ought to be baptized.For they belong to the promised redemption made through Christ, and the Church should administer it [Baptism and the announcement of that promise] to them.
VI.Of the Sacrament of the Altar.
Of the Sacrament of the Altar we hold that bread and wine in the Supper are the true body and blood of Christ, and are given and received not only by the godly, but also by wicked Christians.
And that not only one form is to be given.[For] we do not need that high art [specious wisdom] which is to teach us that under the one form there is as much as under both, as the sophists and the Council of Constance teach.For even if it were true that there is as much under one as under both, yet the one form only is not the entire ordinance and institution [made] ordained and commanded by Christ.And we especially condemn and in God's name execrate those who not only omit both forms but also quite autocratically [tyrannically]
prohibit, condemn, and blaspheme them as heresy, and so exalt themselves against and above Christ, our Lord and God [opposing and placing themselves ahead of Christ], etc.
As regards transubstantiation, we care nothing about the sophistical subtlety by which they teach that bread and wine leave or lose their own natural substance, and that there remain only the appearance and color of bread, and not true bread.For it is in perfect agreement with Holy Scriptures that there is, and remains, bread, as Paul himself calls it, 1 Cor.10, 16: The bread which we break.And 1 Cor.11, 28:
Let him so eat of that bread.
VII.Of the Keys.
The keys are an office and power given by Christ to the Church for binding and loosing sin, not only the gross and well-known sins, but also the subtle, hidden, which are known only to God, as it is written in Ps.19, 13: Who can understand his errors? And in Rom.7, 25 St.Paul himself complains that with the flesh he serves the law of sin.For it is not in our power, but belongs to God alone, to judge which, how great, and how many the sins are, as it is written in Ps.143, 2:
Enter not into judgment with Thy servant; for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified.And Paul, 1 Cor.4, 4, says:
For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified.
VIII.Of Confession.
Since Absolution or the Power of the Keys is also an aid and consolation against sin and a bad conscience, ordained by Christ [Himself] in the Gospel, Confession or Absolution ought by no means to be abolished in the Church, especially on account of [tender and] timid consciences and on account of the untrained [and capricious] young people, in order that they may be examined, and instructed in the Christian doctrine.
But the enumeration of sins ought to be free to every one, as to what he wishes to enumerate or not to enumerate.For as long as we are in the flesh, we shall not lie when we say: "Iam a poor man [I acknowledge that I am a miserable sinner], full of sin." Rom.7, 23: I see another law in my members, etc.For since private absolution originates in the Office of the Keys, it should not be despised [neglected], but greatly and highly esteemed [of the greatest worth], as [also] all other offices of the Christian Church.
And in those things which concern the spoken, outward Word, we must firmly hold that God grants His Spirit or grace to no one, except through or with the preceding outward Word, in order that we may [thus] be protected against the enthusiasts, i.e., spirits who boast that they have the Spirit without and before the Word, and accordingly judge Scripture or the spoken Word, and explain and stretch it at their pleasure, as Muenzer did, and many still do at the present day, who wish to be acute judges between the Spirit and the letter, and yet know not what they say or declare.For [indeed] the Papacy also is nothing but sheer enthusiasm, by which the Pope boasts that all rights exist in the shrine of his heart, and whatever he decides and commands with [in] his church is spirit and right, even though it is above and contrary to Scripture and the spoken Word.
All this is the old devil and old serpent, who also converted Adam and Eve into enthusiasts, and led them from the outward Word of God to spiritualizing and self-conceit, and nevertheless he accomplished this through other outward words.
