Page:Luther's correspondence and other contemporary letters 1521-1530.djvu/352

 sage, "The lamb is the Lord's Passover."* Where do the Scriptures say this? Moses says, "Ye shall eat it in haste, for it is the Lord's Passover," that is, "Do all this because this day is the Lord's Passover," as though I were to say, "Ye shall eat baked meats because it is Sunday." The "it" refers to the day, not to the lamb, and so this passage proves nothing. So with the passage, "This cup is the New Testament," the argument would be valid if we must admit that something was omitted; but this passage reads, "This cup is the New Testament in My blood" ; that is to say, "The cup of itself is nothing, but because of my blood it is a testament, since the blood cannot be given without the cup." What proof is there fof the S)rmbolic interpretation by which the cup signifies the testament, the wine signifies the blood of Christ? Where do we find this proof in the Scriptures? This is mere trifling, the mere figment of men's imagination, as though it were enough to say, "It seems to me that the cup, because it is of gold or silver, is a symbol of the blood poured out for us, though it is hard and solid and cannot be poured out; if you bring in the wine, wine is drunk not poured." How much truer it would be to make the Old Testament oblations of wine, which were poured, a symbol of the blood poured out for us! But let this pass. The case in a word is this: Even though it can be proved that elsewhere the word "is" means "signifies," nevertheless it cannot be proved that this is its meaning in this passage. Now to do violence to the words without reason and war- rant of Scripture is sacrilege.

Therefore, brethren, by Christ and by all that we hold dear in Christ, we beseech you to abstain from this error, which is shown by so many signs to be foreign to the Spirit and which is supported by no proofs, and to cease to seduce men's souls. For this matter is fraught with the greatest danger to salvation. If they will not or cannot be persuaded to desist, we shall compare it with the fury of the days of Arius, and though the wrath of God punishes us for our ingratitude, we shall labor until He shall have mercy on us. They will cause g^eat damage, but they shall not prevail.

^Exodus xii, xi.

�� �