Aquinas Quoting Augustine on Scripture Alone

“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.’”

— St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologia,
Part 1, Question 1, Article 8.
Emphasis added.

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Just Tell the Truth

“How can we speak of the termination of a pregnancy when what we really mean is the destruction of a human life?  How can we talk of therapeutic abortion when pregnancy is not a disease needing therapy and what abortion effects is not a cure but a killing?  How can we talk of abortion as a kind of retroactive contraception when what it does is not prevent conception but destroy the conceptus?  We need to have the courage to use accurate language.  Abortion is feticide: the destruction of an unborn child.  It is the shedding of innocent blood, and any society that can tolerate this, let alone legislate for it, has ceased to be civilized.”

— John Stott, English Christian leader and Anglican cleric
(Lutherans For Life.org).

Just tell the truth.

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St. Augustine: Believing Is a Gift

Faith, like life itself, is a pure gift.  When a dead man is raised, he lives.  When a blind man is given sight, he sees.  Life and truth are not things that we earn, they are pure gifts that we can only receive.

St. Augustine wrote in his “Sermons on Selected New Testament Lessons” (81.2-3):

In order to teach us that this very believing is matter of gift, not of desert [deserving], He says,… “No man comes unto Me, except the Father which has sent Me draw him.”  [John 6:44].  He did not lead, but draw.  This violence is done to the heart, not the body.  Why then do you marvel?  Believe, and you come; love, and you are drawn.  Do not suppose here any rough and uneasy violence; it is gentle, it is sweet; it is the very sweetness that draws you.  Is not a sheep drawn, when fresh grass is shown to it in its hunger?  Yet I imagine that it is not bodily driven on, but fast bound by desire.  In such wise do you come too to Christ …

But wonderful it is, that when Christ Crucified is preached, two hear, one despises, the other ascends.  Let him that despises, impute it to himself; let not him that ascends, arrogate it to himself.  For he has heard from the True Master; “No man comes unto Me, except it were given unto him of My Father.”  [John 6:65].  Let him joy, that it has been given; let him render thanks to Him who gives it, with a humble, not an arrogant heart; lest what he has attained through humility, he lose through pride.  For even they who are already walking in this way of righteousness, if they attribute it to themselves, and to their own strength, perish out of it.

—St. Augustine, translation by R.G. MacMullen.
(Emphasis added).

There are Lutheran pastors who teach that Christians (after conversion) can choose to believe God’s word.  This post-conversion decision theology is the foundation of their ministry and methods.  Every practice that “works” is designed to entice and motivate a choice to believe.

However, it is Christ who gives faith, and it is Christ alone to whom we should look to receive faith.  (John 6:29, Luke 17:5).  When faith wavers, should we look to our own reason or strength?  Or should we look to Christ alone?  Paul wrote to already believing Christians: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this [faith & grace] is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”  (Ephesians 2:8-9).

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Luther Quotations on Faith

The following are five quotations from Martin Luther on the subject of faith.  They are taken from What Luther Says, compiled by Ewald M. Plass, Volume I, pages 477-479, paragraphs 1412-1415, and 1420.

Luther contended that salvation is the free gift of God, and therefore could be received only though faith, and that faith itself is a gift of God.  Says Plass regarding paragraph 1412: Faith is “a work performed in us rather than by us.”  Faith is a divine work that produces all the other works below it.

Paragraph 1412:

Faith is full of life and power.  It is not an idle thought.  It does not float on the surface of the heart, as a goose does on water; but it is as water that has been warmed by fire.  Although such water remains water, it is no longer cold but warm and, therefore, an entirely different sort of water.  So faith, which is the work of the Holy Spirit, makes the mind and the thinking of a person different and thereby makes an entirely new man of him.  Faith, then, is an active, independent (difficilis), and powerful thing; and if we want truly to evaluate it, we should call it an influence (passio) on us rather than an act (actio) performed by us.  For it changes our souls and our views.

Paragraph 1413:

Do not think lightly of faith.  It is a work that is of all works the most excellent and the most difficult.  Through it alone you will be saved, even though you were obliged to do without all other works.  For it is the work of God, not of man, as Paul teaches (Ephesians 1:19).  The other works He performs with our co-operation and through us; this alone He works within us and without our co-operation (sine nobis).

Paragraph 1414:

Faith is a divine work which God requires of us; but He Himself must give us the strength to do it.

Paragraph 1415:

It is a mistake to place faith and its work alongside other virtues and works.  Faith should be elevated above all and regarded, as it were, as a sort of constant and general influence above all works, through the movement and activity of which everything that is in man is sent into motion, works, is vigorous and pleasing.

Paragraph 1420:

A Christian modestly says to God: Dear Lord, although I am sure of my position, I am unable to sustain it without Thee.  Help Thou me, or I am lost. — He is indeed certain of his position, as Peter was on the water (Matthew 14:29).  Peter could not be more certain than he was.  The water was supporting him.  He saw no obstacle in his way.  But when the wind came rushing on, he saw what was lacking in him.  This must be taken well to heart.  For although we are sure of our position, have Scripture, and are covered and armed with clear passages in the very best way, yet our security depends on the power, the will, and the might of God, who protects us and defends us against the devil, our adversary and greatest enemy.

But this happens that God may make us determined and yet keep us fearful, so that we are always filled with concern and cry to Him: O Lord, help us, and increase our faith (Luke 17:5); for without Thee we are undone.  At heart we should always feel as if we were just beginning to believe today, and every day we should feel as if we had never heard the Gospel before.  We must believe anew every day.

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“The Bondage of the Will” Quotation

We are free in matters that are below us.  For example, we can choose the color of our socks or to help our neighbor.  However, we are not free in matters that are above us because they are beyond our abilities.  For example, life and faith are above us, and can only be gifts from God.

Martin Luther considered his work “The Bondage of the Will” to be one of his best.  It was written in response to Erasmus who asserted the freedom of man’s will in spiritual matters.  Said Luther:

Before man is created and is a man, he neither does nor attempts to do anything toward becoming a creature, and after he is created he neither does nor attempts to do anything toward remaining a creature, but both of these things are done by the sole will of the omnipotent power and goodness of God, who creates and preserves us without our help; but he does not work in us without us, because it is for this he has created and preserved us, that he might work in us and we might cooperate with him, whether outside his Kingdom through his general omnipotence, or inside his Kingdom by the special virtue of his Spirit.

In just the same way … before man is changed into a new creature of the Kingdom of the Spirit, he does nothing and attempts nothing to prepare himself for this renewal and this Kingdom, and when he has been recreated he does nothing and attempts nothing toward remaining in this Kingdom, but the Spirit alone does both of these things in us, recreating us without us and preserving us without our help in our recreated state, as also James says:  “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of his power, that we might be a beginning of his creature” [James 1:18]—speaking of the renewed creature.

But he does not work without us, because it is for this very thing he has recreated and preserves us, that he might work in us and we might cooperate with him.  Thus it is through us he preaches, shows mercy to the poor, comforts the afflicted.  But what is attributed to free choice in all this?  Or rather, what is there left for it but nothing?  And really nothing!

— Luther’s Works, Vol. 33, page 243.
(Emphasis added).

Faith is above us, therefore, faith “is the gift of God.”  No one can boast because faith is not by works, choices, or cooperation.  We are saved by grace alone through faith alone, and this (faith & grace) is the gift of God.  (Ephesians 2:8-9).  Through His Word of promise, God alone gives faith and God alone preserves faith.

On the other hand, the good works that God has prepared in advance for us to do are below us.  (Ephesians 2:10).  That is where we cooperate with God.  As Luther says, God “preaches, shows mercy to the poor,” and “comforts the afflicted” through us.  Because of God we do these works willingly.  (Philippians 2:13).

God works through us to do His work here in this world.  His Word from above creates in us new life and new impulses so that we willingly do His good will.  It is God alone who gives us life and faith and makes us clean and holy so that according to his will we willingly do the good works that are below us.  (Philippians 2:13).  And in heaven we will be rewarded for those good works.  (Ephesians 6:8).

But the good that comes from above is a pure gift.  (James 1:17-18).  Faith, from beginning to end, is a miracle from God: a working of His divine power to raise the dead to spiritual life.  Faith is not partly God’s work and then partly our work any more than life itself is partly God’s work and partly our work.  Yes, we live, but the life we live is the life God gives.

Likewise, we believe, but faith is God’s gift of trust and spiritual life.  The Word of promise creates faith.  “When we believe, our hearts are brought to life by the Holy Spirit through Christ’s Word.”  (Apology of the Augsburg Confession XIIA (V). Repentance, 44-46).

A living tree produces fruit.  Life comes from God, and the life in the tree gives life to the fruit.  The fruit does not give life to the tree.  Those who resist the Holy Spirit and refuse to produce fruit, may lose life.  (Luke 13:7).  But God alone makes alive and preserves life, and it is because of His life in us (faith) that we produce the fruit of life (good works and choices).  Even though we can willingly do the good works below us that God has prepared for us to do, the life and faith that comes from above is God’s work alone.  (John 6:29, 15:16).

After conversion, can a Christian perfect faith by choosing to believe?  No.  True faith by definition is founded on only Christ, and not at all on our will, choices, or decisions.  (Matthew 16:17 and 1 Corinthians 3:11).  Christ alone is “the author and perfecter of our faith,” therefore, we must “fix our eyes on Jesus” and not on our choices.  (Hebrews 2:12).  Christ makes faith secure.  “On Christ the solid rock I stand.  All other ground is sinking sand.”  (CW, 382).  Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”  (John 14:6).  Like life itself, faith, from beginning to end, is a gift that comes from above.  (Ephesians 2:8-9).  Therefore, we should diligently pray, “Increase our faith!”  (Luke 17:5).

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My Soul Magnifies the Lord

My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.

His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers.

— Virgin Mary.

This is the Magnificat by the holy Virgin Mary as recorded in Luke 1:46-55 (NIV).  It received its name from the first line which is often translated: “My soul magnifies the Lord.”  Mary sang this paean after the Almighty God became incarnate inside her.  Every time we receive the Lord’s Supper, we receive the incarnate body of Almighty God in us.  May our souls, like Mary’s, magnify the Lord in response to His great gift.

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Independence Day Fireworks

United States of America, Happy Independence Day!

The aftermath of a nighttime fireworks detonation is seldom seen.

In 1776, the winds of freedom were blowing.  The following quotation is taken from a letter by Abigail Adams to her husband John Adams dated March 31, 1776:

I long to hear that you have declared an independancy—and by the way in the New Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors.  Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands.  Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could…

Men of Sense in all Ages abhor those customs which treat us only as the vassals of your Sex.  Regard us then as Beings placed by providence under your protection, and in immitation of the Supreme Being make use of that power only for our happiness.

Your ever faithful friend.

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The Religion of Conan the Barbarian

He [Conan] had entered the part of the city reserved for the temples.  On all sides of him they glittered white in the starlight—snowy marble pillars and golden domes and silver arches, shrines of Zamora’s myriad strange gods.  He did not trouble his head about them; he knew that Zamora’s religion, like all things of a civilized, long-settled people, was intricate and complex, and had lost most of the pristine essence in a maze of formulas and rituals.  He had squatted for hours in the courtyards of the philosophers, listening to the arguments of theologians and teachers, and come away in a haze of bewilderment, sure of only one thing, and that, that they were all touched in the head.

His [Conan's] gods were simple and understandable; Crom was their chief, and he lived on a great mountain, whence he sent forth dooms and death.  It was useless to call on Crom, because he was a gloomy, savage god, and he hated weaklings.  But he gave a man courage at birth, and the will and might to kill his enemies, which, in the Cimmerian’s mind, was all any god should be expected to do.

(The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, “The Tower of the Elephant” by Robert E. Howard, pages 64-65).

I enjoy Howard’s Conan the Barbarian stories, and usually rue the fact that Howard committed suicide at age 30.  He lived from 1906 to 1936 A.D., and that’s a life too short.  I’ve never seen any evidence of Christianity in his writings, and all lives whether they be 30 years or 80 years are far too short compared to an eternity in Christ.

The reason I enjoy Howard’s Conan stories is because there is something elemental to human nature in them, or in Conan.  He believes in the gods, but is wise enough to reject the mysteries and secret powers of complex man-made religions and philosophies; instinctively knowing that the physically weak priests and philosophers use those “formulas and rituals” to attain power, just as he would use his sword to attain power.  A complex man-made religion is simply a tool of the hierocracy.  A simple religion is better for Conan, and yet, who can understand Crom?  Any god that could be fully understood by any man would be no god at all.  Truth and wonder cannot be separated.

In his fallen nature, which is barbarism, man can grope toward the real God of the Law: a God of “dooms and death” who hates sinners and weaklings.  That would all be true.  But thankfully someone came to add to the truth, to be truth himself: Jesus Christ.  Only through the revelation of Jesus Christ can we see the mercy of God.  He is the truth, both simple and complex, both fully man and fully God.  Only the Holy Spirit can give us the sight to see his cross as not just more “dooms and death,” but mercy and life.

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“Seek God’s will rather than the rewards.”

Obedience to the Law apart from faith does not justify, but those who have been justified will necessarily produce fruit worthy of the Holy Spirit, repentance, and justification.

“[W]hen obedience happens in those who have been justified, it merits other great rewards.  [However] God puts His saints to work in various ways, and often holds back the rewards of works-righteousness.  He does this so that they may learn not to trust in their own righteousness, and may learn to seek God’s will rather than the rewards.  This can be seen with Job, Christ, and other saints.”

— Book of Concord; “Apology of the Augsburg Confession:”
Love and Fulfilling the Law, paragraphs 76-77.  Emphasis added.

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Chrysostom on the Nature of Christ

Let us learn to know to which nature the Father said, “Share My seat.”  It is the same nature to which had been said, “You are dust and to dust you shall return.”

—John Chrysostom in Epistle 65 to Leo …

It is great and wonderful and awe-inspiring that our flesh is seated above and worshiped by angels and archangels, by seraphim and cherubim.  When I reflect on this, I am entranced and seem to be outside myself.

—John Chrysostom, on Hebrews 2.

— Concordia, The Lutheran Confessions: A Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord.  Concordia Publishing House; St. Louis, 2006, page 636.

These quotes along with many others were included in the Catalog of Testimonies (an appendix to the Book of Concord) to show that the Church’s universal orthodox belief has been that Jesus’ physical body has divine properties and can be physically consumed in the Lord’s Supper.

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