Page:Luther's correspondence and other contemporary letters 1521-1530.djvu/130

 adores Christ, because it sets before it only Him whose body and blood it doubts not to be present. If the contentious are unwilling to call this "concomitance," let them call it some- thing else and cease the contention, which in this matter is not seemly. For no one denies — not even the Brethren, I take it — that the body and blood of Christ, who is the object of adora- tion, are present, and this is reason enough for using the term "concomitance." But if there are any who wish to discover how the Deity is contained in the sacrament by way of con- comitance, show them that their curiosity is foolish and that they are rushing headlong into the mysteries of God with carnal imaginations ; thus you will keep them in the simplicity of faith and in the pure knowledge of the sacrament. For when these foolish and needless imaginings are admitted, they make people curious, faith becomes a secondary matter, and the way is open for all that filth about infinite space, the void, quantity, substance, and all the other ravings of natural reason and philosophy. For this reason we must guard the simplicity of faith in these discussions. Again, faith and love do not adore Christ in the sacrament because they know that there is no command to adore Him there, and no sin in not adoring Him. Thus faith and love, in their liberty, pass through the midst of them and bring them all into agreement, allowing everybody to hold his own opinion. There is only one thing that faith and love forbid, — that people shall strive with one another and judge one another; for they hate sects and schisms and will have freedom in all things.

The dispute about whether the body of Christ alone is present under the bread by virtue of the words, etc., is to be settled the same way. Judge for yourself whether there is any need to involve the ignorant multitude in these hair-splittings, when otherwise they can be guided by the sound and safe faith that under the bread there is the body of Him who is true God and true man. What is the use of wearying our- selves with the question how blood, humanity, Deity, hair, bones and skin are present by concomitance, for these things we do not need to know. These things neither teach nor in- crease faith, but only sow doubts and dissensions. Faith wishes to know nothing more than that under the bread is

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