The Abuse of Scripture in the Interest of Clerical Power
Because many priests abandon the imitation of Christ, the high priest, and boast of the power committed to the church, without doing works that correspond, therefore up to this time we have been speaking of the power of this kind. For they extract out of Matt. 18 : 16, “Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,” that whatsoever they do, every man ought altogether to approve. And from the words of Matt. 23 : 2, “The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, therefore all things whatsoever they bid you, these do,” they extract that every inferior is to obey them in all things. And so these priests clamorously apply to themselves at their own pleasure whatsoever appeals to them out of Christ’s Gospel, and without any ministry of love on their part to correspond. But what plainly calls for toil and worldly self-abnegation and the imitation of Christ, that they spurn away as something inapplicable to themselves, or make believe they hold it when they do not.
Hence, because Jesus said to Peter, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, etc,” this they lay hold of with great complacency for the exaltation of their own power. But what the Lord said to Peter, John 21 : 17, “Follow me and feed my sheep,” this they flee from as poison. Likewise, what he said to his disciples, Matt. 18 : 18, “What things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,” they gratefully seize upon and glory in. But what he says, Matt.
10 : 9, “Get you no gold nor silver,” they shun as hurtful. In the same way what he said to his disciples, John 20 : 23, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain they are retained,” very placidly they accept. But what he says in Matt. 11 : 29, “Learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart,” even the gentleness and meekness, which prepare a place for the Holy Spirit, they do not admit to their hearts.
Also what the Lord said to his disciples, Luke 10 : 16, “He that heareth you heareth me,” they seize upon as meaning obedience to themselves, but what the Lord says in Matt. 20 : 25, “Ye know that the rulers of the Gentiles do lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them. Not so shall it be among you, but, whosoever would become great among you, shall be your minister, and whosoever would be first among you shall be your servant: even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister,” — this most weighty saying they repudiate in word and deed — in word, saying that they ought to rule, and in deed because they do not wish to minister to the church after the custom of Jesus Christ the Lord.
And that I may gather up briefly all that the Scripture says, and especially the Gospel: what seems to indicate to them that they ought to be rich, live delicately, be famous in the world, and suffer no reproach for Christ, these sayings they ruminate over, proclaim aloud and make known all too extensively. But whatever calls for the imitation of Christ, as poverty, gentleness, humility, endurance, chastity, toil or patience — these passages they suppress or gloss over at their pleasure or expressly set aside as not pertaining to salvation. And the devil, who is the worst of sophists, leads them astray by their ignorance of the logical consequences, arguing in this way: “Christ gave such authority to Peter and the rest of the apostles, therefore also to you.” And
THE ABUSE OF SCRIPTURE from this they draw the inference that it is lawful for them to do whatsoever they please, and so, by reasoning of the same kind, they are most blessed fathers together with Christ in pronouncing judgment in the church and because they are to be crowned later with an everlasting crown. But blessed be Christ, the omniscient, who said these things to his apostles, knowing that the authority which was given to them they would use according to his good pleasure in ministering to his bride.
So far, therefore, as the power — authority — is concerned in which the clergy glories it is to be noted, that power is sometimes taken to mean lordship or real power, as in Romans 13 : i: “Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers.” Sometimes it is taken in an ambiguous sense to mean assumed or simulated power, as Christ said to his captors sent by the power of the high priests, Luke 22 : 53: “This is your hour and the power of darkness.” And it is said, Rev. 6:8: “Lo, a pale horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death: and hell followed him, and there was given unto him power over the four parts of the earth to kill with sword, famine, and death, and by the wild beasts of the earth.” Also it is said, Rev. 13 : 4, that the “dragon gave his authority — power — unto the beast, and they worshipped the beast saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to war with him? … And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and every tongue and nation; and all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whose name hath not been written in the book of life and of the Lamb,1 that hath been slain.” Who is this beast whom men worship out of fear of his power? He who reads let him understand and resist assumed power of this kind and let him not fear, as they did, because it was given to that beast to make war against the