Epilogue
I want now to gather the substance of all that I have said into a short epilogue, that no one may imagine that the Christian law is so confused and difficult to explain that no one can learn it or explain it in a few words. That I or others have to talk at such length is due to the fault of himt who has dared to corrupt everything, to disturb everything, to defile and to pervert everything, in order to satisfy his own greed, so that there is nothing, or at least very little, in the whole true teaching of the true God that this man of sin [cf. II Thess. 2: 3] has not ventured to destroy. His avarice is so uncontrollable that when he sees himself refused in human things what he needs to satiate himself, he ventures to lay hold of divine things also. When he sees anything holy and undefiled, his first object is
[This was done in June, 1524. Ti. e., the Pope.;]
338 The Works of Huldreich Zwingli to befoul it with his own interpretation; and when he has polluted everything he proceeds to misuse everything in the interest of lust. Hence it has come to pass that we have purchased salvation from the Roman Pontiff as from a peddler, and have got the idea that Christianity is an article of merchandise rather than holiness of life. There is no difference between the life of man and that of beasts if you take away the knowledge of God. For what has man that beasts have not also? Men defend themselves and their children, satisfy their desires, flee from want; so do the beasts. Man founds laws and states. The ἀγελαῖα;?. €., gregarious animals, as cranes, thrushes, starlings, tunnies, deer, cattle, bees, swine, do the same, being governed by fixed laws, dividing the mass now into wedges and now into single lines, now dwelling in one place, now migrating to another, and generally keeping faith better than is done among men. God, therefore, was unwilling to leave man without the knowledge of Himself, and has always taught him in such a way as immediately to call him back when he seemed to have fallen into forgetfulness of God, that he might not in his degeneracy prefer to perish with the beasts rather than to live forever with Him. Hence the anxious inquiry, addressed to fallen man: “Adam, where art thou?” [Gen. 3:9]. Hence the fire and the flood, in order to keep man to his duty by fear also. Again, the splendid promises and benefits. He promised Abraham offspring that should save the world [cf. Gen. 15: 6-21, 17: 4-9, 22: 17f.]; so to Isaac [Gen. 26: 4-5], Israel [Gen. 28: 13-15], and Jesse’s son David. Unwilling to endure longer the affliction of His people, He brought the whole nation under Moses out of the savage tyranny of Pharaoh, and, after punishing the enemy, supported them in the desert, now with bread from heaven, now with the flesh of quail; and where water was wanting He brought it forth abundantly from the hardest rock, or where it was not good sweetened it so that they could enjoy it in ample measure. He hedged them about with laws as with a guard rail, and thus separated them from the rest of the nations, that they might see that they were the peculiar people of God. In this manner He showed Himself ’ a most loving Father to one race; yet He was nowhere lacking to others, that the whole world might recognize that He is the
one and the only one who can do all things, by whom all things exist, by whom all things are governed, that miserable man may not go over to the beasts; for He marked them off from the beasts by bringing their passions into line through laws. Yet who would ever have accepted His laws that had not first dedicated his heart to Him, that had not above all the belief that He was the true and only God? Therefore, it is evident that, whenever God manifested Himself to the world, He also so entered the heart that what was heard or seen was recognized as being divine. For the flesh receiveth not what is opposed to it; and whatever the heavenly Spirit does is opposed to the flesh. Therefore man cannot receive God, cannot listen to the law, unless God Himself draw the heart to Himself [cf. Jn. 6:44], so that it shall recognize that He is its God, and shall receive the law as good. Thus, then, from the foundation of the world God has manifested Himself in various ways to the human race, that we might recognize Him as Father and Dispenser of all things. The first thing, therefore, in piety is that we should firmly believe that He whom we confess as our God is God, the Source and Father of all things; for unless we do so, we shall never obey His laws. The next thing is that we should know ourselves; for when we have not knowledge of ourselves also, we accept no law. For how should one accept a law who thinks nothing lacking to himself? Therefore this Heavenly Householder rises betimes, aye in the night, as the prophet says [cf. Ps. 46:6], to arrange and prescribe everything early, that we may not begin to labor before the allotted task has been assigned. He hedges the human race about with laws, therefore, that it may begin nothing without regard to law; for He not only compassed the people of Israel about with laws, but also inscribed upon the hearts of the Gentiles the so-called laws of nature; for one of their prophets says: “γνῶϑι σεαυτόν [know thyself] came down from heaven.” But on knowledge of self rests the law, What you wish done to yourself, do to another [cf. Mt. 7:12], and its counterpart, What you do not wish done to yourself, do not to another [Tobit 4:16]. For our own good, therefore, God manifests Himself to us, for whether He enters into our hearts
[Juvenal Sat. xi. 27.]
—which is the greatest miracle—so that we recognize that He is our God and Father, or whether He accomplishes the same thing by miraculous works, He does it solely with a view to benefiting us. And what is this benefit that He provides with such care for us? It is twofold, verily: namely, to live here blamelessly; and, when the course of this life has been finished, to enjoy eternal bliss with Him. For what need would there have been of knowledge of God, and of laws, if the end of the soul were the same as of the body? Would it not have been better to let man remain a brute, if he had been a brute after this fashion, than to raise him to false hope? God willed, therefore, that amid the numerous and varied progeny of created things the human race should so dwell upon earth as to strive towards the inheritance set for it in heaven. So it pleased the Most High. For what other reason should He manifest Himself to man, and kindle him to love of Him? And knowing that man would wonder exceedingly what sort of an inheritance it was that he should hope for in heaven, He gave him a taste, as it were, of that happiness, but through a mist and a lattice, as the saying is. Man sees all things done with reckless greed and turmoil, but when he hears God say, “Thou shalt not covet” [Exod. 20:17; cf. Rom. 7:7], he infers truly that noxious covetousness must be very far from the place where true happiness dwells, and that the author of such happiness must be still farther removed from all greed. He doubts not, therefore, that it would be a very beautiful thing if, also while we are here, we were far removed from all covetousness. Hence the constant struggle and contest. The soul strives to fashion itself upon the pattern of Him towards whom it is hastening, whose face it desires to see, the face, namely, of its righteous and holy Father, aye, of Him who is righteousness itself, holiness, purity, light, rest, refreshment, joy, and all blessedness together. The body resists, because by its nature it scorns whatever the soul greatly values; it yearns for the things of earth and lets those of heaven go, has no hope at all of seeing God any more than the very earth has from which it sprang. Accordingly, it follows its desires, and if it is ever kept by the power of the soul from attaining them, it proceeds to plot and rage against it. Hence that constant battle between the flesh
and the spirit, which ceases not until we have reached our goal. Hence would be born desperation of soul, had not a kind God so manifested Himself to it that it can safely trust to His mercy. For the soul, seeing after all its efforts that the flesh throws itself into all sorts of sin (just as the boy possessed of a demon in Mark [9: 22] cast himself now into the fire and now into the water), could not help being reduced to the uttermost depths of despair by this ungovernableness of the flesh. But when it does not cast away hope nor give up its efforts for blamelessness, it sees that mercy is better than vengeance. And that man might never lose this hope, when it pleased the divine counsel, the heavenly Father sent His only begotten Son, so to strengthen the hopes of all that they should see clearly that nothing can be refused, now that the Son is given for poor mortals; for “how shall he not with him freely give us all things?” [Rom. 8:32]. He was sent, then, for this purpose, that He might altogether take away this despair of the soul that springs from the ungovernableness of the flesh, as has been said, and that He might also furnish an example of life. For Christ everywhere emphasizes these two things, namely, redemption through Himself, and the obligation of those redeemed through Him to live according to His example. For Hesays, Jn. 6:57: “So he that eateth me, he shall live because of me”; and Jn. 15:8: “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be my disciples.” We ought, then, to be as eagerly bent upon a change of life as we trust in redemption through Him. A Christian, therefore, is a man who trusts in the one ^^ true and only God; who relies upon His mercy through His Son Christ, God of God; who models himself upon His example; who dies daily [ef. I Cor. 15:31]; who daily renounces self; who is intent upon this one thing, not to do anything that can offend his God. Such watchfulness demands so much diligence and zeal that any one would need many a Theseus to defend his blamelessness, and yet would never come off victorious. The Christian life, then, is a battle, so sharp and full of danger that effort can nowhere be relaxed without loss; again, it is also a lasting victory, for he who fights it wins, if only he remains loyal to Christ the head. Thus has God willed that man be ἀμφίβιος [an amphibian] among the
creatures, dwelling sometimes on earth, sometimes in the heavens; and, again, while on the earth sometimes conquering, sometimes yielding; but we are by no means to ask the reasons for His acts. Since, then, God asks of us these things only, faith and blamelessness, no more baneful plague can be imagined than a varied worship of God, the invention of our own industry. This we (being given to magnifying everything of our own) embrace, instead of that true worship of God which consists of faith and blamelessness; and, aecording to the words of the prophet Jeremiah, 2: 13, “We have committed two evils; we have forsaken God, the fountain of living waters, and hewed us out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” V/ We have substituted a vicar for Christ, and in our folly have decreed that he is to be listened to in place of God. When he saw that a way to our purses was open to him through our consciences, what scheme did he not think up? What did he not dare? How many roads to heaven he showed us, but none without a toll! You confessed into the ear of the vicar of Christ; heaven was promised if you counted out so and so much for masses and mumbling. You joined some order, to which the stupid erowd contributed much, and again you attained the heavens; for the greater the accessions to them, the more powerful became our viear. Run thus through everything that reckless greed has prescribed for us, and you will find that it has removed true religion from men, that is, faith and blamelessness, by which singly and alone God is worshipped; nor does He require any other worship of us; nay, He so scorns other inventions as to say that things which seem high to men are an abomination in His sight. God ought to be worshipped with those things alone in which He delights. For who among men is so crazy as to honor any one with things that are of no avail? Worthless trifles, therefore, are all those things which in our ignorance or presumption we parade as the worship of God. But now why do we ever remain children, when we see that God takes delight in other things than those with which we have hitherto wearied Him? Why do we find it so hard to change from useless trifles to those true and solid things, righteousness, faith, mercy, in which Christ comprehended all religion? We owe faith to Him, righteousness and
guilelessness to ourselves and others, mercy to all in need.
So, then, good reader, receive this Commentary, so hurriedly written and printed in three months and a half that, as you see, it stands clumsy indeed, but zealous for the truth and holiness; consider it calmly, and take it in good part.
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