j*****7
发帖数: 10575 | 1 The Necessity of Knowing God and His Power
Section VII.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/luther/bondage.viii.i.html
Sect. VII. — BUT I will set your theology before your eyes by a few
similitudes. — What if any one, intending to compose a poem, or an oration,
should never think about, nor inquire into his abilities, what he could do,
and what he could not do, nor what the subject undertaken required; and
should utterly disregard that precept of Horace, “What the shoulders can
sustain, and what they must sink under;” but should precipitately dash upon
the undertaking and think thus — I must strive to get the work done; to
inquire whether the learning I have, the eloquence I have, the force of
genius I have, be equal to it, is curious and superfluous: — Or, it any one
, desiring to have a plentiful crop from his land, should not be so curious
as to take the superfluous care of examining the nature of the soil, (as
Virgil curiously and in vain teaches in his Georgics,) but should rush on at
once, thinking of nothing but the work, and plough the seashore, and cast
in the seed wherever the soil was turned up, whether sand or mud: — Or if
any one, about to make war, and desiring a glorious victory, or intending to
render any other service to the state, should not be so curious as to
deliberate upon what it was in his power to do; whether the treasury could
furnish money, whether the soldiers were fit, whether any opportunity
offered; and should pay no regard whatever to that of the historian, “
Before you act, there must be deliberation, and when you have deliberated,
speedy execution;” but should rush forward with his eyes blinded, and his
ears stopped, only exclaiming war! war! and should be determined on the
undertaking: — What, I ask you, Erasmus, would you think of such poets,
such husbandmen, such generals, and such heads of affairs? I will add also
that of the Gospel — If any one going to build a tower, sits not down first
and counts the cost, whether he has enough to finish it, — What does
Christ say of such an One? (Luke xiv. 28-32).
Thus you also enjoin us works only. But you forbid us to examine, weigh, and
know, first, our ability, what we can do, and what we cannot do, as being
curious, superfluous, and irreligious. Thus, while with your over-cautious
prudence you pretend to detest temerity, and make a show of sobriety, you go
so far, that you even teach the greatest of all temerity. For, although the
Sophists are rash and mad in reality while they pursue their curious
inquiries, yet their sin is less enormous than yours; for you even teach and
enjoin men to be mad, and to rush on with temerity. And to make your
madness still greater, you persuade us, that this temerity is the most
exalted and Christian piety, sobriety, religious gravity, and even salvation
. And you assert, that if we exercise it not, we are irreligious, curious,
and vain: although you are so great an enemy to assertions. Thus, in
steering clear of Charybdis, you have, with excellent grace, escaped Scylla
also. But into this state you are driven by your confidence in your own
talents. You believe, that you can by your eloquence, so impose upon the
understandings of all, that no one shall discover the design which you
secretly hug in your heart, and what you aim at in all those your pliant
writings. But God is not mocked, (Gal. vi. 7,) upon whom it is not safe to
run.
Moreover, had you enjoined us this temerity in composing poems, in preparing
for fruits, in conducting wars or other undertakings, or in building houses
; although it would have been intolerable, especially in so great a man, yet
you might have been deserving of some pardon, at least from Christians, for
they pay no regard to these temporal things. But when you enjoin Christians
themselves to become rash workers, and charge them not to be curious about
what they can do and what they cannot do, in obtaining eternal salvation;
this, evidently, and in reality, is the sin unpardonable. For while they
know not what or how much they can do, they will not know what to do; and if
they know not what to do, they cannot repent when they do wrong; and
impenitence is the unpardonable sin: and to this, does that moderate and
sceptical theology of yours lead us.
Therefore, it is not irreligious, curious, or superfluous, but essentially
wholesome and necessary, for a Christian to know, whether or not the will
does any thing in those things which pertain unto Salvation. Nay, let me
tell you, this is the very hinge upon which our discussion turns. It is the
very heart of our subject. For our object is this: to inquire what “Free-
will” can do, in what it is passive, and how it stands with reference to
the grace of God. If we know nothing of these things, we shall know nothing
whatever of Christian matters, and shall be far behind all People upon the
earth. He that does not feel this, let him confess that he is no Christian.
And he that despises and laughs at it, let him know that he is the Christian
’s greatest enemy. For, if I know not how much I can do myself, how far my
ability extends, and what I can do God-wards; I shall be equally uncertain
and ignorant how much God is to do, how far His ability is to extend, and
what He is to do toward me: whereas it is “God that worketh all in all.” (
1 Cor. xii. 6.) But if I know not the distinction between our working and
the power of God, I know not God Himself. And if I know not God, I cannot
worship Him, praise Him, give Him thanks, nor serve Him; for I shall not
know how much I ought to ascribe unto myself, and how much unto God. It is
necessary, therefore, to hold the most certain distinction, between the
power of God and our power, the working of God and our working, if we would
live in His fear.
Hence you see, this point, forms another part of the whole sum of
Christianity; on which depends, and in which is at stake, the knowledge of
ourselves, and the knowledge and glory of God. Wherefore, friend Erasmus,
your calling the knowledge of this point irreligious, curious, and vain, is
not to be borne in you. We owe much to you, but we owe all to the fear of
God. Nay you yourself see, that all our good is to be ascribed unto God, and
you assert that in your Form of Christianity: and in asserting this, you
certainly, at the same time assert also, that the mercy of God alone does
all things, and that our own will does nothing, but is rather acted upon:
and so it must be, otherwise the whole is not ascribed unto God. And yet,
immediately afterwards, you say, that to assert these things, and to know
them, is irreligious, impious, and vain. But at this rate a mind, which is
unstable in itself, and unsettled and inexperienced in the things of
godliness, cannot but talk. | j*****7
发帖数: 10575 | | j*****7
发帖数: 10575 | | j*****7
发帖数: 10575 | |
|
