Page:Luther's correspondence and other contemporary letters 1521-1530.djvu/288

 to hear the Word of God sins no less than he who lets the Body of Christ fall on the ground/ For, preaching converts some and causes punishment, whereas only venial sins are remitted by eating the Body of Christ, as is said in the gloss.* The same must be said of the aforementioned covenants, and, perhaps, it is less true of them than of the eucharistic sacrifice, for they were shut up in an ark, but the Body of Christ is taken by the faithful. At any rate the said Decretals are equal to the said covenants, as they proceed from the same author. Moreover, in this book of Decretals are found the answers of the supreme Pontiffs by which, as is well established, the book of the De- cretals was made the Canon Law. For the supreme Pontiffs are presumed to have all the laws in the casket of their hearts,* for both Popes and Elmperors are guided by the advice of the wise and prudent. The same appears in the Institutes,* in the third chapter of Nehemiah," and in the commentary of Felinus Sandeus.* Nay, I should prefer to say that the power of legislation resided only in the supreme Pontiff and had been usurped and abused by the Emperor.' Pope Innocent IV attests this, and if you do not believe him you will be forced to do so willy-nilly by the divine authorities he cites. For, beginning with the foundation of the world, he says: "Thus God created heaven and earth and all that in them is, angelic and human nature, things spiritual and things temporal, and He personally rules them as a maker rules what he has made, and He gave to man, whom He had made, laws, and He im-

^ From the time of Tertullian, at least, it was considered a very terrible thing to let the eucharist bread or wine fall on the floor. See Srawley, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, v, 549. In 1280 the Synod of Cologne decreed that if any of the consecrated wine was spilt the priest should Hck it up. Du Cange, *, v. ablingere. The Lutherans inherited the same superstition. In the sixteenth century the fingers of a Lutheran priest were actually cut off for accidentally spilling the wine. Richards, Melanchthon, 363!, 391; RGG., i, 77.

'I.e., the commentary on the Canon Law. The Council of Trent, on the con- trary, stated that ''pleased by this oblation the Lord remits even enormous sins and crimes." Session XXII, cap. 2, Mirbt: Quellen sur GeschichU des Papsttunu^, 191 1, p. 240.

chests." Supported by a citation from the Civil Law.
 * In scrinio pectoris, a famous phrase. One is tempted to translate "in their

» Paxsinu
 * Institutes, ii, 25.

Schulte, Quellen des kanonischen Rechts, it, 350. ^ Quotation from Innocent IV to prove this.
 * A jurist (1444-1503) who lectured at Bologna, and was Bishop of Peana.

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