By Schubert Ogden
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Wiki Markup
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In all his promises, . . . |
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in |
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addition |
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to |
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the |
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word, |
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God |
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has |
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usually |
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given |
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a |
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sign, |
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for |
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the |
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greater |
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assurance |
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and |
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strengthening |
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of |
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our |
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faith. |
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Thus |
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he |
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gave |
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Noah |
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the |
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sign |
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of |
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the |
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rainbow |
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[Gen |
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9:12-17 |
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]. |
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To |
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Abraham |
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he |
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gave |
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circumcision |
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as |
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a |
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sign |
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[Gen |
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17:11 |
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]. . . . |
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So |
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we |
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constantly |
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find |
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in |
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the |
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Scriptures |
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many |
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of |
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these |
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signs, |
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given |
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along |
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with |
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the |
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promises. |
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For |
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in |
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this |
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way |
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also |
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worldly |
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testaments |
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are |
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made; not |
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only |
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are |
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the |
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words |
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written |
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down, |
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but |
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seals |
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and |
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the |
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marks |
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of |
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notaries |
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are |
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affixed, |
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so |
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that |
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[they |
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] |
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may |
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always |
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be |
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binding |
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and |
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authentic. |
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This |
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is |
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what |
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Christ |
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has |
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done |
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in |
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this |
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testament. |
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He |
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has |
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affixed |
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to |
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the |
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words |
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a |
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powerful |
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and |
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most |
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precious |
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seal |
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and |
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sign: |
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his |
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own |
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true |
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flesh |
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and |
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blood |
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under |
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the |
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bread |
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and |
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wine. |
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For |
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we |
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poor |
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men, |
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living |
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as |
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we |
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do |
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in |
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our |
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five |
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senses, |
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must |
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always |
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have |
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along |
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with |
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the |
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words |
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at |
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least |
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one |
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outward |
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sign |
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to |
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which |
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we |
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may |
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cling |
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and |
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around |
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which |
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we |
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may |
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gather—in such |
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a |
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way, |
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however, |
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that |
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this |
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sign |
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may |
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be |
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a |
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sacrament, |
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that |
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is, |
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that |
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it |
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may |
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be |
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external |
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and |
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yet |
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contain |
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and |
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signify |
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something |
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spiritual; in |
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order |
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that |
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through |
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the |
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external |
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we |
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may |
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be |
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drawn |
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into |
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the |
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spiritual, |
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comprehending |
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the |
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external |
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with |
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the |
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eyes |
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of |
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the |
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body |
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and |
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the |
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spiritual |
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or |
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inward |
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with |
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the |
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eyes |
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of |
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the |
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heart. |
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Now |
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we |
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see |
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how |
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many |
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parts |
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there |
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are |
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in |
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this |
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testament, |
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or |
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mass. |
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There |
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is, |
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first, |
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the |
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testator |
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who |
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makes |
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the |
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testament, |
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Christ. |
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Second, |
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the |
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heirs |
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to |
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whom |
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the |
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testament |
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is |
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bequeathed, |
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we |
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Christians. |
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Third, |
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the |
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testament |
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itself, |
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the |
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words |
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of |
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Christ—when he |
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says, |
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'This |
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is |
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my |
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body |
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which |
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is |
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given |
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for |
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you. |
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This |
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is |
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my blood |
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which |
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is |
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poured |
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out |
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for |
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you, |
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a |
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new |
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eternal |
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testament, |
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' etc. |
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Fourth, |
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the |
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seal |
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or |
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token |
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is |
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the |
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sacrament, |
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the |
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bread |
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and |
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wine, |
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under |
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which |
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are |
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his |
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true |
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body |
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and |
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blood. . . . |
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Fifth, |
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there |
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is |
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the |
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bequeathed |
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blessing |
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which |
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the |
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words |
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signify, |
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namely, |
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remission |
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of |
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sins |
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and |
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eternal |
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life. |
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Sixth, |
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the |
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duty, |
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remembrance, |
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or |
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requiem, |
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which |
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we |
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are |
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to |
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do |
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for |
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Christ, |
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that |
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is, |
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that |
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we |
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should |
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preach |
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his |
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love |
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and |
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grace, |
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hear |
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and |
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meditate |
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upon |
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it, |
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and |
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by |
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it |
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be |
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incited |
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and |
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preserved |
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unto |
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love |
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and |
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hope |
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in |
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him. |
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As |
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St. |
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Paul |
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explains |
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it |
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in |
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1 |
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Corinthians |
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11[:26 |
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], |
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'As |
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often |
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as |
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you |
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eat |
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this |
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bread |
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and |
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drink |
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this |
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cup, |
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you |
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proclaim |
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the |
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death |
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of |
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Christ.' |
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And |
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this |
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is |
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what |
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an |
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earthly |
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testator |
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does, |
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who |
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bequeaths |
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something |
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to |
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his |
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heirs, |
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that |
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he |
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may |
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leave |
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behind |
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him |
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a |
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good |
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name, |
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the |
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good |
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will |
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of |
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men, |
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and |
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a |
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blessed |
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memory, |
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that |
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he |
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should |
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not |
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be |
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forgotten |
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(LW, |
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35: |
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86 |
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f). |
Gerrish speaks of the sense in which Luther uses the notion of sacram,ental sacramental sign here as "peculiar," presumably because Luther uses it to refer, not \ [just\] to the elements, but to Christ's "own true flesh and blood under the bread and wine" 2 (Gerrish's italics). But this usage is hardly "peculiar," given Luther's own allowance elsewhere that "if \ [he\] were to speak according to the usage of the Scriptures, \ [he\] should have only one single sacrament, but with three sacramental signs \ [i.e., baptislnbaptism, penance, and the bread\]" (LW, 36:18; cf. 93, where he says expressly that "Christ hilnself himself is called a 'sacrament' in 1 Tim 3\[:16\]"). Of course, there are signs and there are signs, and Luther's distinction here between "sacrament" and "sacramental signs" anticipates the distinction I and others make between "primal sacrament" and "secondary sacraments," allowing "primary sacrament" to refer to the church itself and as such, since it is evidently included somehow in the Vulgate's "nzagn.um magnum sacramentum" as the agency whereby Christ is proclaimed among gentiles and believed in throughout the world. But Luther recognizes, rightly, that and how Jesus Christ himself is in his own way re-presentative.
In other passages, however, it's not quite as clear that he is thinking and speaking of Christ himself as a sacrament. Consider, for instance:
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So in the mass also, the foremost promise of all, [Christ] adds as a memorial sign of such a great promise his own body and his own blood in the bread and wine, when he says: 'Do this in remembrance of me' [Lk 22:19; Cor 11:24-25]. And so in baptism, to the words of promise he adds the sign of immersion in water. We may learn from this that in every promise of God two things are presented to us, the word and the sign, so that we are to understand the word to be the testament, but the sign to be the sacrament. Thus, in the mass, the word of Christ is the testament, and the bread and wine are the sacrament. And as there is greater power in the word than in the sign, so there is greater power in the testament than in the sacrament; for a man can have and use the word or testament apart from the sign or sacrament. 'Believe,' says Augustine, 'and you have eaten.' But what does one believe, other than the word of the one who promises (LW, 36: 44; cf. 35: 91). |
Aside from what may be only the verbal difference of speaking here of the body and blood of Christ "in" the bread and wine instead of "under" them, Luther goes on to say, simply, that "the bread and wine are the sacrament," instead of speaking of Christ's own body and blood "in" the bread and wine as the sacrament in the mass.
Even so, we have Tillich's profound analysis of symbols generally, including "the religious symbol", to remind us that "das Symbolisierte selbst [kann] wieder Symbol sein für ein Symbolisiertes höheren Ranges"—to the point, indeed, that even talk about "den erlösenden Handeln Gottes [ist] selbst symbolischer Ausdruck für eine Erfahrung des Unbedingt-Transzendenten" (GW, 5: 196). My thought is that just as the explicit primal source of authority is constitutive relative to the primary (formal) authority and all secondary (merely substantial) authorities, so the primal sacrament is constitutive relative to the primary sacrament of the church and all secondary means of salvation, including all "sacramental signs." But insofar as the secondary means are administered and received as re-presentative of the church and, through it, of the explicit primal source through which the church itself is authorized/constituted, that primal source and the church are both really present "under" them, or, alternatively, "in" them, as is the implicit primal source—the transcendental source—that is strictly ultimate reality itself.
7 January of Clu;-ist himself as a sacraInent. Consider, for instance: So in the mass also, the forenlost promise of all, \[Christ\] adds as a memorial sign of such a great promise his own body and his own blood in the bread and wine, when he says: 'Do this in remembrance of me' \[Lk 22:19; Cor 11:24-25\]. And so in baptism, to the words of promise he adds the sign of immersion in water. We may learn from this that in every promise of God two things are presented to us, the word and the sign, so that we are to understand the word to be the testament, but the sign to be the sacrament. Thus, in the mass, the word of Christ is the testament, and the bread and wine are the sacrament. And as there is greater power in the word than in the sign, so there is greater power in the testament than in the sacrament; for a man can have and use the word or testament apart from the sign or sacrament. 'Believe,' says Augustine, 'and you have eaten.' But what does one believe, other than the word of the one who promises (LW, 36:44; d. 35:91). Aside from what may be only the verbal difference of speaking here of the body and blood of Christ "in" the bread and wine instead of "under" them, Luther goes on to say, simply, that "the bread and wine are the sacrament," instead of speaking of Christ's own body and blood "in" the bread and wine as the sacrament in the mass. 3 Even so, we have Tillich's profound analysis of SYlnbols generally, including "the religious symbol", to remind us that "dils Symbolisierte selbst \[kawz\] wieder Symbol sein fUr ein Symbolisiertes lzoheren Rllnges"-to the point, indeed, that even talk about "den erlosenden Handeln Gottes list\] selbst symbolischer Ausdruck fUr eine Erfahrung des Unbedingt-Transzendenten" (GW, 5:196). \!vIy thought is that just as the explicit primal source of authority is constitutive relative to the primary (formal) authority and all secondary (merely substantial) authorities, so the prim.al sacrament is constitutive relative to the primary sacrament of the church and all secondary means of salvation, including all "sacramental signs." But insofar as the secondary means are administered and received as re-presentative of the church and, through it, of the explicit primal source through which the church itself is authorizedI constituted, that primal source and the church are both really present "under" them, or, alternatively, "in" theIn, as is the implicit primal source-the transcendental source-that is strictly ultimate reality itself. 7 January 2010
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