them had collars with ruffs; some had collars with bands. The former
group, however, were bearded and wore no wigs.
Before both groups stood a man who had been a judge and critic of
the writers of this century. With the staff in his hand, this chairman
banged on the floor and brought about silence. He stepped up onto the
dais where the central chair was and uttered a groan. After groaning he
intended to shout out loud, but the breath expended in groaning made
the shout catch in his throat.
[ 2 ] Finally, when he was able to speak, he said, “Friends, what times
we live in! Someone has risen out of the herd of the laity. He has no gown,
no cap, no laurel. Yet he has pulled our faith down from heaven and
thrown it into the river Styx. What a crime! Yet that faith is our only star.
It shines like Orion during the night and like Lucifer in the morning.
That man, although well advanced in years, remains completely blind to
the mysteries of our faith because he has not opened our faith and seen in
it the justice of the Lord our Savior, as well as the Lord’s mediation and
appeasement. And since he hasn’t seen these aspects of our faith, he has
also missed the wonders of justification by that faith. These wonders are
the forgiving of sins, regeneration, sanctification, and salvation.
“Instead of accepting our faith, which is supremely effective for one’s
salvation because it is a faith in three divine persons and therefore in the
whole of God, this man has redirected belief toward the second Person—
in fact, not even the whole second Person, but just his human manifesta-
tion. That human manifestation we do indeed call divine, because it was
the incarnation of the Son from eternity; but who thinks of it as any-
thing other than something merely human? What faith can we have in
that except one that gushes materialist philosophy like a fountain? Since
that kind of faith is not spiritual, it is virtually the same as faith in a sub-
stitute or a saint. You all know what Calvin said in his day about worship
from a faith like that. Any one of you, tell us, please, where faith comes
from. Doesn’t it come directly from God? That is why it contains all the
means of salvation.”
[ 3 ] At that the chairman’s colleagues on the left side (the men with
clean-shaven faces, curly wigs, and ruffs around their necks) burst into
applause and shouted, “Very wisely said! We know that we cannot receive
anything that is not given us from heaven!”
[Then the chairman continued,] “That prophet should tell us where
faith comes from and what faith is if it isn’t this. It is impossible for faith
§137 the lord the redeemer & redemption 195