Appendix compiled by Dr. Eric Crump
Appended to Lecture:
"Sexuality and Law in the Lutheran Confessions: The problem
of Homosexuality"
Appendix IV: Writings of Philipp
Melanchthon
Loci
communes theologici [1521]
"Summary of
Ethics [1532]"
On Philosophy
[1536]
Two Orations on Aristotle [1537, 1544]
On the Soul [Liber de anima]" (1553)
Loci Communes
1555 (German Translation)
Loci Communes 1556
Loci communes theologici 1521
Quotations
are from Melanchthon and Bucer. Ed. By
Wilhelm Pauck. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press [The
Library of Christian Classics, Vol. XIX], 1969. Philip
Melanchthon, Loci communes theologici [1521].
P. 24
[87]:
The
law, that is, the knowledge of what must be done,
belongs to the cognitive faculty.
Virtue and sin belong to the faculty of the affections.
Pertinet autem ad vim cognoscendi lex,
id est cognitio faciendorum. Ad vim adfectuum virtus,
peccatum.
P. 50-1 [116]:
Some laws are natural laws, others
divine, and others human. Concerning natural laws, I
have seen nothing worthily written either by
theologians or lawyers. For when natural laws are
being proclaimed, it is proper that their formulas
be collected by the method of human reason through
the natural syllogism. I have not yet seen this done
by anyone, and I do not know at all whether it can
be done, since human reason is so enslaved and
blinded - at least it has been until now. Moreover,
Paul teaches in Rom. 2:15 in a remarkably fine and
clear argument that there is a law of nature. He
comes to the conclusion that there is in the
Gentiles a conscience which either defends or
accuses their acts, and therefore it is law. For
what is conscience but a judgment of our deeds which
is derived from some law or common rule? The law
of nature, therefore, is a common judgment to which
all men give the same consent. This law which God
has engraved on the mind of each is suitable for the
shaping of morals. For just as there are certain
common principles in the theoretical branches of
learning, in mathematics, for instance (they might
be called "common thoughts" or "a priori
principles," such as "The whole is greater than its
parts"), so there are certain common axioms and a
priori principles in the realm of morals; these
constitute the ground rules for all human activity.
(We must use these terms for pedagogical reasons.)
These rules for human acttivity are rightly called
"laws of nature." M. Cicero in his work On Laws
imitated Plato by deriving the standards for laws
from the nature of man. I do not condemn this, but I
consider it done with more cleverness than
precision. But many godless things have crept into
Cicero's disputation, and this usually happens when
we follow the methods and shortcuts of our reason
rather than what is prescribed in Holy Scripture.
For in general the judgment of human comprehension
is fallacious because of our innate blindness, so
that even if certain patterns of morals have been
engraved ou our minds, they can scarcely be
apprhehended. When I say that the laws of nature
have been impressed ou our minds by God, I mean that
the knowledge of these laws consists of certain
so-called "concreated attitudes" (habitus
concreati). This knowledge is not the product of
our own menntal powers, but it has been implanted in
us by God. I am not concerned to make this agree
with the philosophy of Aristotle. For what do I care
what that wrangler thought? I pass over those things
which we have in common with the beasts, the
instinct of self-preservation, of giving birth, and
procreating another from self. The lawyers relate
these things to the law of nature, but I call them
certain natural dispositions implanted commonly
in living beings.
Of the laws that pertain properly to
man, however, the principal ones seem to be the
following:
1. God must be worshiped.
2. Since we are born into a life
that is social, nobody must be harmed.
3. Human society demands that we
make common use of all things.
....
Undoubtedly, the second law, which
enjoins us to take care that no one be harmed, can
be derived from the common necessity that all of us
are born bound and joined to all other men. The
Scripture indicates this when it says in Genesis
2:18: "It is not good that man should be alone; I
will make him a helper fit for him." Accordingly,
the law commands that no one be harmed, that is,
that we should all earnestly love one another in
order that all may experience our benevolence with
zeal and kindness. This law therefore includes the
divine commmandments that we should not kill anyone,
that wee should not steal another's property, and
similar laws.
Legum aliae naturales sunt, aliae
divinae, aliae humanae. De naturalibus legibus
nondum vidi neque a Theologis, neque a
lurisconsultis aliquid digne scriptum. Nam cum
naturales dicantur, oportebat a rationis humanae
methodo earum formulas colligi per naturalem
syllogismum. Id quod nondum video a quoquam factum,
et haud scio an omnino possit fieri, nempe usque
adeo capta, occaecataque rationne humana. Porro esse
in nobis legem naturae Paulus mire eleganti et
arguto enthymemate, in secundo capite ad Romanos
[vs. 15.] docet, cum sic colligit. Est in gentibus
conscientia factum defendens vel adcusans, est
igitur lex. Quid enim aliud est conscientia, quam
facti nostri iudicium, quod a lege aliqua aut
communi formula petitur? Est itaque lex naturae
sententia communis, cui omnes homines pariter
adsentimur, atque adeo quam deus insculpit cuiusque
animo, ad formandos mores adcommodata. Nam ut sunt
in disciplinis theoricis, ut mathemati, quaedam
communia principia sive koinai ennoiai he
prolepseis, quale illud est totum esse maius
partibus, ita sunt quaedam in moralibus tum
principia communia tum conslusiones primae - utendum
est enim docendi gratia istorum vocabulis - regulae
omnium humanarum functionum. Has recte vocaveris
leges naturae. M. Cicero in libris de legibus
Platonem imitatus ex natura hominis formulas legum
derivat, quod ut non damno, ita urbane magis quam
exactte fieri video. Incidunt autem in eam Ciceronis
disputationem etiam plerraque impia, id quod fere
solet accidere, cum methodos potius et compendia
rationis nostrae sectamur quam divinarum literarum
praescriptum. Est enim in universum fallax humani
captus iudicium propter cognatam caecitatem, ita ut,
etiamsi sint in animos nostros insculptae quaedam
formae morum, tamen eae deprehendi vix possint. Quod
vero dico leges naturae a deo impressas menntibus
humanis, volo earum cognitionem esse quosdam, ut
isti loquuntur, habitus concreatos, non inventam a
nostris ingeniis, sed insitam nobis a deo regulam
iudicandi de moribus. Id ut conveniat cum
Aristotelis philosophia, non laboro. Quid enim ad
me, quid senserit ille rixator? Omitto autem ea,
quae cum brutis communia habemus, vitam tueri
gignereque et aliud ex sese procreare, quae in ius
naturae referunt iurisconsulti, ego naturales
quosdam affectus animantibus communiter insitos voco.
Legum autem, quae proprie ad hominem
pertinent, haec videntur esse capita, quae
subiecimus.
I. Deus colendus est.
II. Quia nascimur in quandam vitae
societatem, nemo laedendus est.
III. Poscit humana societas, ut
omnibus rebus communiter utamur.
...
Secundam legem, qua cavetur, ne quis
laedatur, non dubium est colligi ex necessitudine
comuni, qua omnes omnibus devincti copulatique
nascimur, ut scrptura indicat, cum inquit non
convenire, ut homo solitarius degat, sed adendum ei
esse auxilium vitae. Iubet itaque lex, ne quis
laedatur, hoc est, ut certatim inter nos amemus
omnes, ut benevolentiam nostram studio et officio
comnnes experiantur. Itaque haec lex complectitur
divias, ne quem occidamus, ne rapiamus aliena et
similes.
P. 71 [140]:
For you see that in addition to
natural law, which in my opinion was engraved on
human minds, were also disclosed by God to Adam,
e.g., that he not taste the fruit of the tree of
knowledge of good and evil. To Cain, God gave the
commannd that he not be angry with his brother, and
God also told him that whoever killed him would be
committing sin. In this way the Spirit of God was
restoring the knowledge of natural law by constant
proclamation. This knowledge of law was already
being so darkenned in human minds blinded by sin
that I might almost call natural law not some innate
judgment, implanted and engraved by nature on the
minds of men, but simply the laws received by the
fathers, and handed down from time to time to
posterity.
Vides enim praeter naturalem legem, quae impressa est
mentibus humanis, ut opinor, etiam leges latas esse a
deo Adamo, ne deliaret poma arboris scientiae boni ac
mali ; Caino, ne irasceretur fratri suo et eidem
peccaturum, qui se occideret. In hunc modum legis
naturae cognitionem innstaurabat praedicatione continua
spiritus dei, quae iam obscurabatur excaecatis peccato
mentibus humanis, ita ut mihi paene libeat vocare leem
naturae no aliquod conngenitum iudicium seu insitum et
insculptum natura mentibus hominum, sed leges acceptas a
patribus et quasi per mannus traditas subinde
posteritati.
______________________
"Summary of Ethics
[1532]"
Quotations taken from Philip
Melanchthon, A Melanchthon Reader, trans., with
an Introduction, by Ralph Keen (New York/Bern/Frankfurt
am Main/ Paris: Peter Lang [American University Studies,
Series VII. Theology and Religion, vol. 41],
1988):203-238.
[p. 203]
Of the Limits of Good and Bad
1. What is moral philosophy?
It is the complete awareness of the
precepts of the duties of all the virtues, which
the reason understands agrees
with man's nature and which are necessary for the
conduct for this civil life.
_______________________
[p. 204]
Philosophy is neither gospel nor any
part of it, but it is a part of divine law. For
it is the law of nature itself divinely written in men's
minds, which is truly the law of God concerning those
virtues which
reason
understands and which are necessary for civil life. For
philosophy, properly speaking, is nothing other than the
explanation of the law of nature.
But I call philosophy not all of men's opinions but the
sure perceptions and those which can be demonstrated.
The rest stands between the law of God and philosophy,
since the law of God teaches about spiritual matters
before God, while philosophy truly teaches those works
which can be judged by
reason.
To oversimplify, philosophy is the law of God as far
as
reason understands law;
or if one wishes to leave out the first table [of the
Decalogue], while philosophy affirms nothing of the will
of God, it does not belong to the second table of the
divine law insofar as
reason understands law.
_______________________
[p. 202]
3. Is there a lawful use of this
Christian doctrine?
Absolutely. For just as Christians are
allowed to use the law of God and the law of nature, so
they may rightly make use of philosophy, since it is
called a part of the divine law and the explanation of
the law of nature. And still the Christian must
realize that he must be pronounced justified freely
through Christ, not through law or philosophy. Also just
as it is possible for Christians to make use of civic
ordinances and the laws of public affairs, so they may
also use philosophy.
4. For what use is this?
Since the first necessity is to the law
of God, and to know the laws of magistrates, so that we
may have a discipline which can restrain the desires, it
is easy to realize that philosophy is useful, in that it
is a certain domestic discipline which, while it shows
us the force and nature of virtue with demonstrable
causes and sources, excites us to the love of virtue.
...., it is therefore no less useful to see the chief
and best things in human nature, how the causes of all
virtues are written in our souls. Certainly there is
nothing more excellent in nature than these gifts.
For this awareness is the vestige and image of divinity
in man, even if it is somewhat obscured by sin and the
sickness of nature.
________________________
[p. 202-3]
5. What is the difference between moral
philosophy and the laws of magistrates?
The laws of magistrates and the
paranetic booklets contain bare precepts without causes
and reasons. And philosophy seeks the sources and the
necessary reasons, set in nature herself, for these
precepts.
_______________________
[p. 205]
6. What is the end of man?
While things are perceived in such a way
that causes are deduced, there is a sense in which a
goal may be sought. And so, prudently, even learned men
search for the end of man. And the other parts of
philosophy speak of other causes, but moral
philosophy is involved completely in the investigation
of man's goal. For this reason there is a free
awareness, since it is absolutely right for man to
understand the end of his nature. Aristotle first
defined the end as - or at least gave it the name -
happiness. We set the matter in a certain way according
to his definitions:
reason
demonstrates that the performance of virtue is man's
end; that is,
reason judges the performance
of virtue in all good things to be that which it
understands to be the highest [aim] and one to be sought
for its own sake. But it refers more to understanding
that it is written in human nature that men were created
chiefly for virtue, that men are by nature called to
virtue, etc. I have said above that philosophy is a
part of divine law.
______________________________
[p. 206]
8. What is the use of this precept about
the goal?
After we have heard that the first and
chief law of nature is that virtue is the goal of man,
and not pleasure or any other thing, it must then be
seen how this law can be put to use. For this is its
use: to govern all plans, all of life's business so that
neither expediency nor pleasure take us away from
virtue. For the ultimate end is to be sought and
observed in all dealings and ought to be put before all
things. .... They go contrary to nature who make,
for their own benefit, illegal pacts with the Turks and
create dangers for their country and the whole name of
Christendom. They go against nature who, instead
of humble honest efforts, prefer to seek for their own
private advantage and, as if they were in an isolated
station in life, allow the best things to be oppressed
and killed, especially those things necessary for the a
good and happy life.
____________________
[pp. 207-208]
Just as there is one true philosophy, so
in a certain way there is only one truth, and if it is
not perceived, false and inaccurate things are said. And
this true philosophy is that one which has definite
demonstrations and does not depart from common sense or
the natural
judgment of reason. Further,
natural
reason teaches that the good
is that which agrees with nature;
and then there is a gradation of goods into honest,
useful, and pleasant; also that there are other goods in
nature, namely that there are things created for the use
or functions of living things, of whatever sort of life,
physical ability and nature: food, drink, wealth, rule
and the like; there are said to be other good things in
morals, namely the performance of virtues.
....
11. What is virtue?
If someone wants to define it most
exactly and clearly, he would say that it is a habit
that inclines to that which must be obeyed with
right reason.
For this law in nature ought to be placed among the
foremost: Right
reason must be obeyed; and
this highest law governs and rules almost all the
virtues. For virtue is obedience on account of
right reason.
And this definition of ours further agrees in substance
with the sense of Aristotle's definition. These are his
words: Virtue is an elective habit consisting in
moderation which
the reason prescribes just as
the wise man judges. And there are causal definitions.
For what Aristotle calls elective reflects the efficient
cause of virtue, that virtue is governed by the
judgment of
right reason. The
final cause is to incline toward obedience of [208]
right
reason. Aristotle feels the
same way when he says that moderation is constituted by
right reason.
Then he adds the effective cause, how virtue is brought
about, namely moderation in the emotions or certainty
among practical matters, since virtue moderates fear and
boldness and calls us back into line.
__________________________
[p. 208]
"Physis" means the disposition of
nature without judgment, as certain people are naturally
vehement or easygoing. Cato was tough by nature, and
that constancy was not a virtue since it was not ruled
by reason;
but it was a certain uncontrolled impulse.....
And there is a fifth level of choice,
which is to do something either by plan and judgment or
on the spot. For it embraces two things, the judgment of
reason or deliberation and the
free expression of the will.....
... In prohairesis persons are
moved by firm and true
reason.
_________________________
[pp. 208-209]
13. How are the virtues divided?
Just as the arts, so also the virtues
are distinguished by objects and ends.... [209]
But let us first distribute them
according to the levels of the precepts of the
Decalogue, since there is no more fitting method for
the virtues than the Decalogue, by which the most apt
and exact forms may be taken from the order of the
precepts. And indeed this order squares with
the
reasoning that discerns virtues by
their objects.
The First Table contains the virtues which properly
revolve around God; and since God ought to be the first
object of good actions, we rightly order our division of
virtues according to those which pertain to God and
revolve around him. And if philosophy does not
adequately deal with virtues as revolving around God,
still it examines some which contain outward discipline.
...
The Second Table contains the virtues
which are performed for men.... In this respect it must
be diligently considered that the Decalogue
philosophizes pretty aptly by distributing the levels
according to objects, and philosophers in fact divide
them first by objects and then by ends. For first of
all some virtues govern common society, and others
properly govern individuals, for the preservation of
nature and honesty. And the ends of virtues are taken
from the ends of human nature. Therefore even the
laws of nature are assembled. But I call them the
general goals of preserving nature, the preservation of
society and other related ends.
________________________
[p. 210]
Certain perceptions and virtues properly
govern individuals, as modesty, temperance and other
virtues which prescribe a limit to pleasures and pains
so that nature may be preserved. For there is in man
a divinely implanted awareness of God, and this ought to
bring forth certain duties toward God. Therefore
religion arose, or whatever other name one might wish to
call this virtue. And so, from the goals of human
nature, the laws of nature or natural perceptions are
assembled, and the perceptions in turn obey or control
the virtues. This is the most ample distribution of the
virtues, which virtually draws us to those sources and
causes of virtues which are implanted in nature. For it
shows the ends of nature which are definitely to be
considered and known. And if someone compared this
division with that one which we borrowed above from the
Decalogue, he would easily see that the gradations of
each division do not completely differ with each other.
__________________________
[p. 213]
21. What are the causes of virtue?
The causes of virtuous actions are
judgments of the mind, prescribing either from natural
law or from other laws, and the will obeying this
awareness or judgment.... Even though the majority of
men are not aided by nature, still they can perform acts
of virtue in some way. And for that reason they are to
be controlled and restrained with laws. But firm habits
cannot come about without any individual manner or
natural inclination. ... Let us hold therefore that
the principal causes of virtuous actions are the
judgments of
reason, the will and the
natural inclinations.
___________________________
[p. 214]
22. Is the human will free or not?
The human will is free to a certain
extent in taking up external actions; that is, the human
will can obey the judgment of
reason
seeking or fleeing things before it, or commanding the
lower members and the powers in external actions to obey
the judgement of
reason. .... Another reason
for removing freedom is the very weakness of human
nature. For our nature is so vitiated by original sin
that it is full of bad emotions. For even though there
are some good emotions which would have come out in man,
had he remained without fault, faulty emotions toward
God inhere now in men, such as absence of the fear of
God, diffidence toward God, etc. For even if it were
true that the will by itself is not able to get rid of
all bad emotions, nevertheless we are able to control
and do our honest outer deeds by ourselves, even if in
some way freedom is held back by man, either by weakness
of nature or even the devil.
___________________________
[p. 217]
Further, theologians are wrong when they
applaud the Stoics for contending that all emotions are
to be removed from nature, but a distinction must be
observed: natural affections are to be retained,
that is, emotions in harmony with
reason; other emotions are
those which fight with nature. Which ones these are is
easy to judge, particularly since they are in
disagreement with the law of nature, or the Decalogue,
or other honest laws, such as those against desiring the
wealth of others, someone else's wife, etc. These
emotions are to be rejected.
26. Whence comes this dissimilarity in
nature?
If human nature were not sinful, all
emotions would obey the law of God and the judgment of
right reason. Fr nature is
made for such obedience.
_________________________
[pp. 217-218]
And since some are sinful, he further
taught that they should be [218] controlled by
reason and be restrained by a
certain moderation, particularly so that they not break
out of bounds and impel us to do something against
reason.
....
... men were evil against their wills,
that is, fighting against part of their nature, namely
judgment, since many emotions conflict with the judgment
of reason,
and more men obey their emotions than
right judgment.
_________________________
[p. 219]
But it is the first law of nature in man
that man's other parts may obey
reason.
_________________________
[p. 222]
36. Why does a lawyer say that justice
is a constant and perpetual will?
Because he is controlled by certain sure
notions which were divinely impressed upon the human
mind or are agreed upon by common consent to be divinely
implanted in us. For they are called either right [ius]
or laws [leges]. And these notions are the causes
of justice. Thus it should be sought what that law is
and what those proportions are.
__________________________
[p. 223]
37. How complex is the law?
Law is divided into the law of nature
and positive law. The law of nature properly represents
natural perceptions, which are the practical principles
and conclusions that follow what is right and necessary
from those principles which come from the use of bodies
and things in this society of the human race, namely:
.... Notions of this kind, divinely implanted in human
minds, are truly and properly the law of nature. But
this law represents first a notion and then the power to
act according to this notion. This is the proper meaning
of law.
.... And yet it must be remembered that
this is not to be learned from the law of nature, since
positive law in particular is ruled by the law of nature
and in that respect there is a certain determination of
the law of nature. Thus any law in conflict with natural
law is unjust.
_________________________
[pp. 223-224]
38. Is natural law always unchangeable?
Certain natural notions in man always
remain the same, just as the light remains in the eyes.
Thus just as the principles of other arts are perpetual
and unchangeable, so is natural law unchangeable. For
nothing [224] else is properly natural law except
these practical notions or principles of conduct.
Wherefore Aristotle rightly says that natural law is
unchangeable and has the same force everywhere.... But
still there are some degrees. For some of these natural
things, when changed, would become a corruption of
nature, and these properly are unchangeable and their
principles must be judged correctly. For a corruption of
nature would follow if everyone were allowed to direct
his wishes upon another's life, children, fortunes, etc.
Certain other natural things, when changed, do not
depart radically from nature, nor is it necessary that
corruption of nature follows, just as we naturally use
our right hand more than the left, while it can still
happen without a corruption of nature that someone uses
his left hand better. In this sense there are also some
changeable morals which even though they are said to be
part of natural right are not of the first class and
have probable reasons in nature more than necessary
ones, as usury is said to be against nature and still
magistrates allow moderate usury. For it departs very
little from nature, nor does this discrepancy bring
corruption of nature. Polygamy is against nature, but
even in cases where there is a divergence it does not
depart far from nature. And God the creator of nature
approves of polygamy. It is against nature to take your
brother's wife, yet God, the creator of nature, allowed
the Jews to do so. And so it must be diligently observed
that some natural things are changeable, but in that
case it must be carefully decided, and a change is not
to be allowed without examples of approval.
__________________________
[p. 232]
We often have stated that the law of
nature is divine. For this reason we should know that
the order of nature is established and approved of by
God.
_____________________
"On Philosophy" [1536]
Quotations taken from Philip Melanchthon, A
Melanchthon Reader, trans., with an Introduction, by
Ralph Keen (New York/Bern/Frankfurt am Main/ Paris:
Peter Lang [American University Studies, Series VII.
Theology and Religion, vol. 41], 1988):65-70.
[p. 66]
... The
work of the church is not merely a knowledge of grammar,
but liberal education and even the study of philosophy
and many other fields.
_______________________________
[p. 67]
..., and
many things must also be gathered from moral philosophy
for Christian doctrine.
__________________
For it is
not enough for those who seek a solid doctrine to select
a few things; but the whole art must be understood, or
at least as much as can be learned. The theologian is
deprived of a great tool if he is unaware of those very
learned disputations about the soul, of perception, of
the causes of appetites and emotions, of knowledge, and
of truth. And he is ignorant to make use of dialectic if
he ignores those divisions of causes which are handed
down by physicists and cannot be known except from
physics. For there is [p. 68] everywhere a universe of
subjects in which all things are split and joined among
each other; in order to perceive the particulars, many
things must be taken from various sources: wherefore the
need of the church spans the world of all disciplines.
____________________________________________
[p. 68]
I am calling for a learned theology, not
for cavils which have no real substance. For that reason
I have said that one class of philosophy is to be
taught, which has the least possible sophistry and
retains the right method: that is the teaching of
Aristotle.
____________________________________________
Two Orations on Aristotle [1537, 1544]
Quotations taken from Philip
Melanchthon, A Melanchthon Reader, trans., with
an Introduction, by Ralph Keen (New York/Bern/Frankfurt
am Main/ Paris: Peter Lang [American University Studies,
Series VII. Theology and Religion, vol. 41],
1988):71-88.
1537 Oration on "On the Life of
Aristotle" [SA 3:96-104]
[p. 76]
He completely tied together the
subjects of dialectic, physics, and ethics, and
applied two things which brought light to his
teachings: method and propriety of speech.
________________________________________
1544 Oration on Aristotle [SA 3:122-134]
[p. 78]
And so the great majority of
mankind, all agitated by the furors of others, fight
with God. But lest the whole human race have been
begun in vain, God preserved his church, and incited
it to do what is pleasing to him, to hold on to the
light of true doctrine, and to adorn it with
honorable ethics.
______________________________
[p. 86]
Remember the insolent and Stoic
confusions that come from the Anabaptists, who take
all emotions from men and leave them without
feelings. This error arises from an ignorance of
physics, as if they said that they saw no
distinction between good emotions, which are
divinely implanted in the human heart and are called
natural affections, and the depraved
impulses or the unjust flames of the heart. And thus
there is always the need to recount the parts of the
soul as they are studied in the physical sciences.
Of the Ethics you yourselves
know that true ethics is part of the divine law.
And when philosophers seek the causes for laws in
nature, as with other things, when they show that
the vestiges of God are imposed on human nature,
what else can it be that leads to discipline and to
the confirming of honorable opinions in the minds of
the majority?
The first society, says Cicero, is
of man with God [De nat. deor. 2.31.78-79].
What could he have said more learnedly, what shines
more brightly with the dignity of man, what is more
fitting for the deploring of human misery? But why
does he say that the first society is that of man
with God? Is it not more correct to say that it is
of man with man? Cicero wisely saw that effect had
first to be joined with cause, before similar
effects could be compared with each other: it is
more proper for a son to be associated with his
father that with his brother.
But in what way does the society of
God and man consist? In two things: the knowledge of
the author of the cause, and mutual recognition
among similar persons. The human mind did not
know how to dishonor (something which does not occur
naturally), nor to kill, but it was developed and
ordained by the architectonic mind, and is given to
us by its builder, so that we may owe him obedience.
And God saw to it that law was impressed upon our
minds.
And man is also much more moved by
the recognition of similitude. How fitting it is
that the human mind is depicted as a tablet in the
image of the divine! This shows the duties of
society. God feeds and guards the human race,
maintains states when they cultivate justice, and
punishes terrible crimes, perjury, tyrannicide,
theft, incestuous lust. When we see this, we can
understand society. But when society is perceived,
and its causes, benefits, and punishments are in
view, then we wretched ones, often ignorant of this
bond, violate the laws of society, public offices,
sanctified for us when God gave us good things with
which we are to comply.
____________________________
[p. 87]
Nor in fact should it be doubted
that these philosophical passages, such as the text
from Cicero which I have cited, are useful for
discipline. God wants us to look at nature, and has
impressed his sign in it so that we may recognize
him: he gave arts not only that they may be a
support in life, but also that they may inform us of
the order of its author, who is seen in numbers, in
the motion of the heavens, in pictures and in
that eternal and unchanging barrier set in the mind
of man, namely in the judgment of good and bad:
.....
"On the Soul [Liber de anima]"
(1553)
Quotations are taken from Philip
Melanchthon, A Melanchthon Reader, trans., with
an Introduction, by Ralph Keen (New York/Bern/Frankfurt
am Main/ Paris: Peter Lang [American University Studies,
Series VII. Theology and Religion, vol. 41],
1988):239-289. The latin in brackets are taken from
Corpus reformatorum.vol. XIII, pp. 120-187.
pp. 247-8
There is also to be added the
doctrine, certainly useful and truly philosophical,
of ruling the emotions, which is to be diligently
considered, since the divine voice is that ancient
preaching spoken to Cain: "Let your desire be
beneath you, and you master of it" [Gen. 4:7].
God endowed human minds
[mentibus humanis]with
the rays of his wisdom so that we may discern right
from wrong, and that we may think about what God is,
namely wise, true, good, beneficent, chaste, free, a
judge and a defender, and that we may know that he
wants rational
creatures tcreaturae
rationales] o be in accord with him. And
however much, now in this depravity of man, liberty
has really benn impeded, still God wants some
liberty to remain and wants man to be able to
understand that he is a free agent, able both to
impose reins on his limbs and hold back the
emotions.
But so that we may underrstand
leadership better, we may observe empires, for these
ought to imitate the order of human nature
[naturae humanae
ordinem].
The government of empires is of
two sorts. One kind is called despotic
[despotikÑ],
the other political
[polikÑ].
The depsotic kind is easier to
understand, thatis, the masterful one, for example
when inferiors are forced to obey, and when a
disruptive man is subdued in prison lest he create
trouble.
The other, which is caled
political, is when the spirits of the citizens are
turned by persuasion, so that they willingly obey
because they are moved by some good or the fear of
something, and they do not fight the law. ....
So in man there is a double
leadership, one the despotic kind, by which mind and
will force motion, so that the outward limbs are
either restrained or impelled, as in even the
fiercest thirst the mind and the will can control
the hands so that it not touch ta cup. The nerves
are so created that they may be set in motion by the
rule of the mind and the will. So through the
locomotive faculty, the outer limbs, like prisoners,
can be coerced even if the emotions in the heart
struggle against it. Indeed even apetites for food
and drink are restrained in this way. Nor is there
any obscurity in this freedom and authority, which
is in fact the guardian of all external discipline.
And men are to be taught to learn to understand and
exercise this distinction, since God taught in the
most stringest fashion that the outer limbs are to
be restrained.
And thus Achilles, even though he
burned with anger, still was restrained by Pallas
Athena, that is,
reason [ratione]
was put in his mind, and he controlled his hands so
as not to touch the sword [Il. 1.188-205].
The second form of rule in man is
that which is called the political, when the
external limbs are not just coerced through
locomotion, but the heart itself
agrees
with right reason
[cum recta ratione] and by honest will is
moved to agreement. An example was when Hippolytus
the son of Theseus held back from that an incestuous
union was not a minor crime, and that the gods would
punish him with atrocious punishments. Whenever
there is agreement of
right judgment
[recti iudicii], will, heart, and the
outer limbs, that action is rightly called virtue.
But it is rare in this weaknesss of mankind. And
wherever there is such virtue, as in Scipio, it is
not without some divine movements, as it was truly
said by Cicero: No excellent virtue is without
divine inspiration [De nat. deor.2.167].
pp. 281-3 ["Of the Image of God in
Man"]
But god wants to be recognized by
human nature and wants man to be such an image of
God that he perceives and understands the
similarity. For the highest imitation is the
agreement of wisdom and justice, which cannot exist
except in an intelligent nature. And since what
is good is held in common, god wants these things to
communicate the highest good to man.
Therefore he bestowed awareness
of human perceptions which show both that God exists
and what he is like. For the similarity or
dissimilarity cannot be judged if we completely
ignore what God is like. And the first level of
the likeness is to have intellectual ability and a
harmonious wisdom.
But before sin the image was
such that all abilities agreed with God. In the
intellect there shone a firm perception of God, the
will and the heart agreed with God: that is to say,
they had a rectitude and a justice agreeing with
God, and the freedom of the will was not
impeded. And God lived in this image of himself, to
give life without death, and perpetual happiness, if
man did not drive out God as the leader. Thus Paul
spoke about this image when he told the Ephesians
[4:24]: Assume the role of a new man, who was
created according to God in justice and true
sanctity. And so does antiquity speak of the image
-- and it calls it an image -- not so much as the
powers of the soul, as Augustine did, but such
powers in which God’s light may shine, and which
harmonize with god, and are god’s swelling-place.
augustine accomodates powers in this way. In man
these three things are foremost: the mind that
generates thought, thinking which is image of the
thing thought about, and will, in which are found
happiness and love. By these powers, in some way, he
says, differences among persons may be signified.
The mind that generates thoughts represents the
eternal father, the image when the thought is formed
in us represents the son, the will the holy spirit.
For the eternal father looking upon himself, and
thinking, generated the word, which is the image of
the eternal father, which is the son of God who is
called the word and image of the eternal father. The
holy spirit is a substantial love and a joy
proceeding from the eternal father and son. This is
harmonious with the will and the spirit in the
heart, which are the falmes and instruments of
movements.
It is true that even these powers
have been created for that reason, as many things
teach us about god, and now also, even though human
nature has become lazy, many clear testimonies of
God and of providence may be seen in the soul and
from the awareness of law implanted in us, and from
the terrors of the conscience, while a soul without
the light of God is a corrupt image.
....
How dissimilar we are to that
first creation! the mind is full of fog and doubts
about god. In the will and the heart are many flames
of errant lusts in conflict with God, unjust loves
and unjust hatreds. With these flames some are
incited to confusions of their desires, others to
murder, still others to other sins. In fact devils
jump into the breasts of the impious, and impel many
to horrendous disspipations adn boundless
depredations. Let us look upon these great evils and
deplore them with true prayers. But let us also look
upon the revelation of God, who after we fell into
such great miseries still brought the gift of his
immense goodness to us, with his son praying for uys.
therefore this son of the eternal father, our lord
Jesus christ, was given to us to become the victim
for us and to placate the anger of the eternal
father, and to be a perpetual priest, assembling the
church with the voice of the gospel, in which he
revealed his decree of reconciliation, which he, as
the word of the eternal father, has spoken to our
minds, and shows us that the father is placated, and
pours out the holy spirit into our hearts, in orde
that we may join in true love and joy with eternal
father and him. And so light and eternal justice
have been restored to us, and the image of God has
been renewed with the word shining in the mind, so
that the recognition of God may be clearer and
firmer, and the holy spirit may descend upon us, so
that our emotions may be agreeable with God in both
our will and heart. thus Paul said to the
corinthians [2 Cor. 3:18]: We are looking at the
uncovered face of the glory of the Lord, just as in
the same image we are transformed by glory into
glory, by the spirit of the Lord. That is, in true
conversion the revealed son consoles us, and
displays the compassion of the eternal father, while
we recognize the present God, and we shall not
remain in doubt whether God cares for us. Rather we
shall be transformed more and more to the word, that
is, the light of the son, while the holy spirit
strengthens assent or faith in our hearts, and the
word comes upon motions in harmony with it. And just
as there is an order of cognition and will in us, so
the word displays the reconciliation of the father
and the holy spirit ignites joy so that we are able
to invoke God, confirms assent, and ignites other
motions harmonious with it. So Athanasius said that
the image is renewed to become like the son, and
wherever the holy spirit is, it is there through the
word. this must be known in everyday prayer, and the
testimonies of god revealed to us must be
considered, and his goodness is to be celebrated
with true thanksgiving. Thus I call th eimage of God
the powers of the soul when God shines in them. Then
it will finally be a perfect image when God will be
everywhere in everyone in the celestial church.
I omit the sipute about which
power comes first, knowledge or will. For the other
faculties ought to be ruled by them equally. And
although the will is more important, since it is
like a king who either chooses or rejects plans,
still it does not have tyrannical rule but must obey
true judgment
[recte iudicio]....
Deutsch Loci communes 1555
Melanchthon on Christian Doctrine - Loci
communes 1555. Trans. and ed. By Clyde L. Manschrek,
with Introduction by Hans Engelland. New York: Oxford
University Press [A Library of Protestant Thought],
1965.
P. 83 [201]
Of Divine Law
The law in Moses has three parts. The
firs part is called lex moralis, that is, laws
about virtues
[Gesetze
von tugenden] henceforth in
this essay I will call this eternal law
[ewige
Gesetz], or the law about
the judgment of God against sin.
P. 84 [202]
Eternal law is given the weak name
lex moralis. We refer to the Ten Commandments as
the eternal law because the principal parts of eternal
law are included in the Decalogue. However, when we
use the term "Ten Commandments," this should not be
childishly understood as referring only to ten sentences
but rather to the entire law, which is called lex
moralis; ....
First, however, I want to give this
definition. The divine law, which is called lex
moralis, or law of virtues, or law of the judgment
of God, or the Ten Commandments, is the eternal,
unchangeable wisdom and principle
[Regel] of righteousness in
God himself. A portion of this wisdom was imparted to
man in the creation and later
God's word was given that we might know the nature of
God himself and his demand that we be like him in wisdom
and righteousness. He did this that we might not vex him
in mind, heart, or works, and that we might know his
anger toward all who do not have perfect obedience, and
his commandments.
[203]
Inasmuch as this eternal law is divine
wisdom itself, first fashioned in us in creation
[ist erstlich in der Schepffung in uns gebildet],
and explained in the divine word from the time of Adam
to our own, it is clear that this law binds all
rational creatures in all times. [85] This
law did not originate with Moses, and did not pass away
with Judaism; it is always will be; it shows us
God's nature, and tells us that he wants us to be
like him, and that he abhors sin.
[99]
Of the fourth Commandment
After this, obedience in the second
table is highly pleasing to God, a divine service, for
Christ says in Matthew 22:39, "The second commandment is
like the first, you shall love your neighbor as
yourself!" Note that Christ deems this social
obedience of the second table so highly that he says,
"These commandments are equally as high as the first and
highest commandment." No angel and no man would dare to
speak so if the Son of God had not himself thus spoken;
but note that Christ wants the knowledge of God and the
virtues embraced in the first tale to come first and to
burn in every heart. The tables are similar in that as
God himself is, so are these commandments, beneficent,
true, and pure; for he maintains an unalterable
distinction between virtue and vice; and he truly
wants rational creatures to be like him. The
obligation to both tables is equal, for the second table
becomes a divine service when done in obedience to the
first commandment.
[100]
The commandments in the second table
are also given that we may learn the specific
distinction between many virtues and vices and bear in
mind the nature of God himself. ... The sixth
commandment, "You shall not commit adultery," points to
the distinction between chastity and immorality,
certifies that God is pure and moral [keusch],
and loves purity and has a profound wrath against all
kinds of intercourse outside of marriage. But devils
drive men to unchastity, incest, adultery, and
unnatural lust - not that their nature, which is not
flesh and blood, may have delight in lust or the sexual
act, but that they may disgust God, and arouse God's
wrath against men.
[101]
In this fourth commandment we should be
able to see that God earnestly wants order and
government instead of the kind of freedom in which
everyone may exercise all his wantonness, as a wolf in
the forest that runs wild and plunders and eats whatever
he can overtake.
Now the corrupted nature in men is such
that it would like to live freely, without God, without
law, without any fear. One sees godless, wanton people,
tyrants, Cyclops, and Centaurs living thus, and they
give to this desolate existence the honorable name of
freedom. But there is no freedom when there is no order,
for then no man is secure from others.... Such
disorder and unbridled living is not human freedom, but
wolfish license; to call it "freedom" is to misuse a
noble term, for freedom means an orderly use of one's
own body and goods, by choice, in accordance with divine
law and other true statutes. ... In all of life and
in the use we make of all creatures, the Ten
Commandments, that is, the divine law, should be our
bridle, should bind our hearts, mouths, hands and all
our members, ....
[112]
The Sixth Commandment: You shall Not
Commit Adultery
Here adultery is forbidden; therefore,
we must know what marriage is, for in forbidding all
extramarital sexual intercourse this commandment
sanctions marriage. Here we must remember the rule that
virtue is commanded in the prohibition of vice.
Marriage is a natural, inseparable union
of only two persons, one husband and one wife, for whom
God has not forbidden coition, for he thus ordained
reproduction to avert impurity.
God revealed his will in this order
of creation. He created man and wife, and he wants
mankind to procreate continually until the resurrection.
But men are not to run about like beasts that know no
difference between chastity and unchastity
[Keuschheit und
Unkeuschheit]. God is a
pure, chaste, orderly being, and wants us to acknowledge
him as such; and while we cannot see him physically
and may not embrace him physically, he nevertheless
wants us to keep him in our hearts as a pure, chaste,
orderly being and to distinguish him from all
irrational, unprincipled, impure natures, from beasts,
from devils, and from men. This virtue, this chastity,
constitutes a very clear, evident distinction between
God and the devils.
[113]
The distinction between chastity and
unchastity is revealed in the very beginning in
Paradise, when God says, "The two shall be one flesh" [I
Cor. 6:16], i.e., only a single man and a single woman
should be joined together for reproduction, and they
should be inseparable. In these words the institution
of marriage is established, all extramarital intercourse
is prohibited.
[114]
Worldly authorities are earnestly to
punish adultery and incest; if they are lax, and allow
it, God himself punishes, as he did at Sodom, at the
same time removing both the evildoer and the
authorities.
....
Good Works According to This
Commandment
The foundation for all good works is a
true knowledge of God and faith in Christ. When the
heart is turned to God, when true reverence and faith
enlighten the heart, when sin does not plague the
conscience, then marriage and the bond of marriage are
truly works pleasing to God. And the heart is not to
follow inordinate passions into adultery, but is
earnestly to resist them, and to lead a sober life.
Such marriage is also chastity. For
living in matrimony in accordance with God's commandment
is chastity; or, to put it another way, chastity
is shunning all extramarital relations and resisting
inordinate passions. This is possible for children
annd youth who still do not feel strong lust, and also
for elderly people; but not all men in the years between
are able to live unspotted outside of matrimony, only
those who have a special divine gift for it, like John
the Baptist, or Mary, the mother of Jesus, or tthe widow
Hannah.
[115]
To maintain this gift, one should avoid
even the occasion for sins, and should live soberly, in
prayer and in contemplation of divine doctrine.
Sins Against the Sixth Commandment
All extramarital intercourse is a
mortal sin against this commandment. So also are all
inordinate passions and lusts; all unattraciveness
through gorging annd swilling, associations, lewd
speech, gestures, grimaces, and so forth.
[124]
To summarize: God is equally just [gerecht]
toward all, although it may not happen at the sametime.
He created knowledge of his law in our nature, that
we may know his righteousness
[Gerechtigkeit]....
...
... , for the law is God's wisdom. We
cannot eradicate the light that God planted in men when
he created them. And he openly proclaimed the Ten
commandments, to the accompaniment of miracles, so that
the light would not be extinguished by the doubts of the
human reason
in our disorganized nature.
[126]
Also consider that the light of
natural law was planted in mann when he was created,
but in the heathen it has been obscured, and they have
allowed terrible sins which are contrary to the
natural light in men, that is, contrary to the natural
law.
[128]
Of Natural Law
Many ask, what is natural law? The
answer is that it is precisely the eternal unchangeable
wisdom in God which he proclaimed in the Ten
Commandments. However, we should understand this law, as
God himself clarified it through Christ, the prophets,
and the apostles. God planted tthe glory of this, his
own unchangeable wisdom, in men in the first creation.
As the numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, and 10 are in us, so
also is the light that God is an eternal omnipotent,
wise, true, good, just [gerechtes], and pure
bbeing, who created all things, who wills that all
rationalcreatures be like him in virtue and who will
punish and remove the rational creatures who are
repugnant to his wisdom and righteousness.
This is a legal understanding of the
law, and it remains in man even after he sins. For God
wants us to know his nature, and so in us the judgment
against sin remains. External civil life is to be
regulated according to this natural light, and note well
that this natural light and the Ten Commandments, when
truly understood, are one single wisdom, doctrine, and
law.
Now, one might ask, since an
understanding of the Ten Commandments is implannted in
all men at ttheir creation, why then did God proclaim
the Ten Commandments with so many great miracles beore
so many hundreds of thousands of men? Answer: There are
many important reasons for this open magistral
prolamation, but two are especially important. In the
wake of sin, the light in human
reason
was not as clear and bright as before. Men became ever
more shameless and savage, and incurred more blindness.
The heathern invented and invoked many eternal beings
andd repugnant gods. They permitted all sorts of
frightful immorality, [129] and did not record it
as vice.
[137]
Of Chastity
Chastity, strictly speaking, is the
avoidance of all prohibited sexual relationships
[verbotene Vermischung
und des Samens Missbrauch]. It
is also liviing by the rules of marriage, without any
sexual promiscuity outside of [138] marriage, and
this virtue should be in external members and in the
heart; that is, the heart should not have improper
passions for forbidden persons.
All these are commanded works: in
marriage, to avoid all forbidden sexual relationships;
and outside marriage, to live purely or chastely outside
marriage, to live purely without any misuse of sex. If
one has not the gift to live purely or chastely outside
marriage, then he is commanded to get married.
If one, however, has the divine gift to
live purely outside marriage, he may so remain, as did
John the Baptist and the widow Hannah. Getting married
is not commanded but shunning all prohibited sexual
relationships is an eternally unchangeable commandment.
And all men should know which sexual
relationships God has forbidden, and should consider the
punishments which God has appended to his prohibitions
and which he himself executes, first of all in this
life. For God firmly maintains his rule truly to punish
in this life external lewd immorality
[Unzucht],
adultery, and incest, even though worldly authorities
pay no attention to and do not want to punish such
vices. The Lord expressly says in Leviticus 18:29, "All
men who do these abominations shall be cut off from
among the people." Thus, on account of their immorality
the Lord blotted out Sodom, Gomorrah, the Canaanites,
and many other great cities. And there is no doubt that
great distractions here on earth occur on account of
idolatry, murder, and immorality. Everyone can recall
cases in our time in which persons of high and low
degree have fancied adultery and have been frightfully
struck dead, or cases in which other great punishments
following immorality have fallen on the children, for
sin is punished in one's descendents.
The wrath of God is even more terrible
when poured out in eternal punishment on those who are
not reconciled to God before their end. St. Paul
expressly says in I Corinthians 6, "Adulterers,
fornicators, those who commit incest, and so forth, will
not inherit the kingdom of God."
It is very necessary to know all this,
and to consider it often, so that one may rightly
understand what chastity is and be obedient to God in
this virtue. For God's great wrath against immorality
shows that this is a very grave mattter with God.
Consider why: God has placed his law in his rational
creature, has given him the knowledge to distinguish
between virtue and vice, so that we may know God's
nature and diffeenntiate him from evil, unordered
things. Now chastity provides a very clear distinction
between God and tthe impure spirits and men.
For this reason, when we speak of God,
we should characterize him in our contemplation as wise,
almighty, true, just, pure, chaste, and merciful.
[139] We cannot embrace God with physical arms, but
we are to contemplate him with faith in our hearts, as
he has revealed and distinguished himself from all
creatures, and especially from wrongdoers. Because
chastity makes this clear distinction. God wants this
virtue to be well known to us. That this is a very grave
matter to God is evident from the fact that devils
furiously drive poor men to immorality. Because they
know that God is especially displeased by such sins,
they drive still more furiously, just to vex God. The
devils also know that other great vices stem from
immorality.
Consider this carefully and frequently,
annd exercise obedience to God by living purely annd
chastely in marriage, or outside of marriage. We should
beseech God to strengthen us againnst our own weakness
and against the devils, so that we may not fall into
immorality. God wants us to seek this help of him; he
wishes to be even more graccious because he knows the
poisonous evil of the devil herein.
.....
Whoever has a true understanding of the
sixth commandment and wants to live purely and chastely,
to the glory of God, must himself judge whether he shall
live within marriage or whether he can live sinlessly
outside of marriage. All men should frequently
contemplate this unchangeable rule, I Corinthians 6:9
f., "Adulterers, fornicators, the immoral, etc., shall
not inherit the kingdom of God." Accordingly, under this
topic belongs the entire doctrine about marriage. All
men should have information from divine Scripture,
concerning it, e.g., Matthew 19, I Corinthians 7,
Leviticus 18.
When St. Paul says, "It is better if one
remains free and married" [cf. I Cor. 7:8, 32], he
himself explains that he is speaking of persons who are
qualified for the unmarried state. Previously he says,
"It is better to get married than to burn" [I Cor. 7:9],
that is, than to live in immorality [140] and
impurity. And it is obvious that married people who have
many children and children's children, who are in
poverty, to whom come other anxieties such as illness,
misfortune, and discord - it is obvious that these carry
a great burden. Whoever does not think so is a grossly
absurd man. Concerning this, Paul says, "It is better to
remain unmarried and free," better for the one who is
qualified for it, not on account of holiness, but on
account of the physical hindrances. Unmarried, he would
have fewer physical hindrances than if he were married
and had children and were burdened with the accidents
that befall children.
1556 Loci Communes
[1556]
In Martin Chemnitz, Loci Theologici.
Trans. By J. A. O. Preus. St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 1989.
Preface
[35 (603)]
Human beings are so created by God
that they understand numbers and order, and in the
learning process they are much aided by both numbers and
order. Thus, in teaching a subject, the order of the
various parts must be demonstrated with singular care,
and we must indicate the beginning, the progress, and
the goal. In philosophy they call this process the
"method". In those subjects which are taught using
demonstration, the procedure has been accepted, but not
in the teaching of the church. For the demonstrative
method proceeds from those things which are subject to
the senses and from the first understandings or the
"principles" [primis
notitiis, quae vocantur principia]
At this point, in the teaching of the church we seek
only the order but not the demonstrative method. For the
teaching of the church is not derived or drawn from
demonstrations, but from those statements which God has
given to the human race in sure and clear testimonies
through which in His great kindness He has revealed
Himself and His will.
In philosophy we seek the things
which are certain and distinguish them from the things
which are uncertain. And the causes of certainty are
universal experience, the principles, and
demonstrations. But in the teaching of the church the
cause of certainty is the revelation of God. And we must
consider what meaning has been given by God to a
subject. For example, it is clear to any sane person
that "two times four is eight" is a true statement. This
is natural knowledge based on the principles. Likewise,
we have certain and immovable articles of faith
[immoti articuli fidei],
namely, the divine threats and the divine promises. It
is equally certain that whoever repents of his sin has
forgiveness for the sake of the Son of God, that his
prayer is heard, and that he has been made an heir of
eternal life. But the causes of certainty are different.
The mind with its own judgment sees the correct meaning
regarding the numbers; but the articles of faith are
certain because of revelation, which is confirmed by the
sure and certain testimonies of God - for example, by
the resurrection of the dead and many other miracles.
But because these matters are beyond the judgment of the
human mind, the assent is more sluggish, although the
mind is moved by those testimonies and miracles and
helped by the Holy Spirit in order that it may assent.
Even if philosophy teaches that there
must be doubt about those things which are not
perceptible to the senses and are not principles and are
not corroborated by demonstration (so that, for example,
it is permissible to doubt or suspend judgment as to
whether the only cause of a cloud is a hollowness, or
why a rainbow occurs), yet we know that the doctrines
given to the church by God is certain and immovable even
if it is not subject to the senses, is not innate in us,
as principles are, and is not discovered by
demonstrations. But the cause of this certainty is the
revelation of God, who is truthful.
__________________
Locus 1 - God
A. God in General
[49]
The human race has been so created
and then so redeemed that we as the image and temple of
God might celebrate the praises of God. For God wills to
be known and worshipped. A clear and firm knowledge
of God would have continued in the minds of men if our
nature had remained unimpaired. And afterward, after
Adam and Eve had been received into grace, there is no
greater or better work of man than to have true
knowledge of God, to pray to Him, and to proclaim Him,
as it says in Ps. 149:1 and Ps. 118:17. Therefore the
first and highest concern of man would be to learn the
true teaching concerning God, just as also the First
Commandment specifically demands this duty. But human
minds are wandering, in the corruption of their nature,
in a great and tragic darkness, seeking whether there is
a God or a providence or what the will of God is. And
although it has been impressed on human minds, in
accordance with the judgment of both honest men and
fools, that there is a God who commands obedience and
regularly punishes vicious crimes with vicious
punishments in this life, as many clear and undebatable
testimonies show, yet our minds are tortured with
horrible doubts because they see that good people as
well as the evil are often oppressed and burdened down
with enormous calamities.
[50]
..., a clearer and more appropriate
definition is required. The definition is: God is an
eternal mind, that is, a spiritual essence, intelligent,
the eternal cause of good in nature, that is, a
truthful, good, just, almighty Creator of all good
things, of the whole order in nature, and of human
nature, all of which are directed to a certain orderly
goal, that is, obedience
[totius ordinis
in natura et humanae naturae ad certum ordinem, id est,
ad certam obedientiam].
Plato has included all of these things. But they are
still the thoughts of the human mind which, even though
they are true and learned and developed on the basis of
sure and demonstrable evidence, nevertheless are in need
of an addition to tell us what kind of God He has
revealed Himself to be.
__________________
Locus IV - Human Powers or Free
Choice
[221 (685)]
Man has the ability of knowing and
judging, which is called the mind
(mens).
The intellect or the reason also is a part of this
knowing process. A second part of man is the seeking
part, called the will (voluntas), which either
obeys or resists the judgment. Under the will there
are the desires of the senses
[appetitiones sensuum
seu affectus] or the
affections, the subject and source of which is the
heart. These desires sometimes agree with and sometimes
contend against the will. Under the will is also the
locomotive part of man. We will give a fuller
explanation of these things when we describe the
physical universe.
Furthermore, it is called free choice
(arbitrium) when the mind and the will are joined
together. Or free choice is the name given to the
faculty or power of the will to choose and seek those
things which have been shown to it, or to reject them.
This faculty or ability in our nature in its perfect
state was far greater, but now it has been hindered in
many different ways, as we shall discuss later on.
...
For if the nature of man had not been
corrupted by sin, he would have a clearer and firmer
knowledge of God, he would not have doubt concerning the
will of God, he would have a true fear, true trust, and
finally he would show obedience to the entire law, that
is, in the nature of man the light would shine more
brightly concerning God and all actions would be in
keeping with the law of God. But now the nature of
man is under the oppression of the disease of our origin,
it is filled with doubts about God, it does not truly
fear Him, nor truly trust in Him, nor burn with love for
Him, and many are the flames of vile affections.
__________________________________________
Volume II:
Locus VIII: The Divine Law [331]
The Law is a teaching given by God,
which directs what we are to be like, what we are to do,
what we must omit. The Law requires perfect obedience
toward God. ...
... But the law of God is an
eternal and immovable rule of the divine mind and a
judgment against sin, a judgment impressed upon human
minds [Sed
Lex Dei est regula aeterna et immota menntis divinae et
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