HOW TO START YOUR OWN CHURCH (???)

ADVICE OF MARTIN LUTHER

"To the Christian Nobility" June, 1520 By Martin Luther

The Christian in Society Vol. 44 Lutheran Works CPH



(Don't Read if you are Afraid of thinking for yourself)

The Roman Catholic Priests have very cleverly built three walls around themselves.

Hitherto they have protected themselves by these walls in such a way that no
one has been able to reform them. As a result, the whole of Christendom has
fallen abominably.

In the first place, when pressed by the temporal power they have made 

decrees and declared that the temporal power had no jurisdiction over them,

but that, on the contrary, the spiritual power is above the temporal. In the

second place, when the attempt is made to reprove them with the Scriptures,

they raise the objection that only the pope may interpret the Scriptures. In

the third place, if threatened with a council, their story is that no one

may summon a council but the pope." (Luther's Works Vol. 44 Page 126)

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Let us begin by attacking the first wall. It is pure invention that pope,

bishop, priests, and monks are called the spiritual estate while princes,

lords, artisans, and farmers are called the temporal estate. This is indeed

a piece of deceit and hypocrisy. Yet no one need be intimidated by it, and

for this reason: all Christians are truly of the spiritual estate, and there

is no difference among them except that of office. Paul says in 

I Corinthians 12[:12-13] that we are all one body, yet every member has its

own work by which it serves the others.  This is because we all have one

baptism, one gospel, one faith, and are all Christians alike; for baptism,

gospel, and faith alone make us spiritual and a Christian people.

The pope or bishop anoints, shaves heads, ordains, consecrates, and

prescribes garb different from that of the laity, but he can never make a

man into a Christian or into a spiritual man by so doing. He might well make

a man into a hypocrite or a humbug and blockhead, but never a Christian or a

spiritual man. As far as that goes, we are all consecrated priests through

baptism, as St. Peter says in I Peter 2[:9], "You are a royal priesthood and

a priestly realm." The Apocalypse [book of Revelation] says, "Thou hast made us 

to be priests and kings by thy blood" [Rev. 5:9-10]. The consecration by pope or 

bishop would never "make" a priest, and if we had no higher consecration than that 

which pope or bishop gives, no one could say mass or preach a sermon or give

absolution.

Therefore, when a bishop consecrates it is nothing else than that in the

place and stead of the whole community, all of whom have like power, he

takes a person and charges him to exercise this power on behalf of the

others. It is like ten brothers, all king's sons and equal heirs, choosing

one of themselves to rule the inheritance in the interests of all. In one

sense they are all kings and of equal power, and yet one of them is charged

with the responsibility of ruling. To put it still more dearly: suppose a

group of earnest Christian laymen were taken prisoner and set down in a

desert without an episcopally ordained priest among them. And suppose they

were to come to a common mind there and then in the desert and elect one of

their number, whether he were married or not, and charge him to baptize, say

mass, pronounce absolution, and preach the gospel. Such a man would be as

truly a priest as though he had been ordained by all the bishops and popes

in the world. That is why in eases of necessity anyone can baptize and give

absolution. This would be impossible if we were not all priests. Through

canon law the Roman Catholic Priests have almost destroyed and made unknown 

the wondrous grace and authority of baptism and justification. In times gone by

Christians used to choose their bishops and priests in this way from among

their own number, and they were confirmed in their office by the other

bishops without all the fuss that goes on nowadays. St. Augustine, Ambrose,

and Cyprian each became [a bishop in this manner].

Since those who exercise secular authority have been baptized with the same

baptism, and have the same faith and the same gospel as the rest of us, we

must admit that they are priests and bishops and we must regard their office

as one, which has a proper and useful place in the Christian community. For

whoever comes out of the water of baptism can boast that he is already a

consecrated priest, bishop, and pope, although of course it is not seemly

that just anybody should exercise such office. Because we axe all priests of

equal standing, no one must push himself forward and take it upon himself,

without our consent and election, to do that for which we all have equal

authority. For no one dare take upon himself what is common to all without

the authority and consent of the community. And should it happen that a

person chosen for such office were deposed for abuse of trust, he would then

be exactly what he was before. Therefore, a priest in Christendom is nothing

else but an officeholder. As long as he holds office he takes precedence;

where he is deposed, he is a peasant or a townsman like anybody else.

Indeed, a priest is never a priest when he is deposed. But now the Roman Catholic 

leaders have invented "indelible characters" and say that a deposed priest is

nevertheless something different from a mere layman. They hold the illusion

that a priest can never be anything other than a priest, or ever become a

layman. All this is just contrived talk, and human regulation.

(Luther's Works Vol. 44, page 127-128)